SINGAPORE (Aug 7): AEM Holdings posts a net profit of $12.3 million for the 1H ended June, close to eight times higher than earnings of $1.6 million a year ago.
The provider of equipment systems solutions and manufacturing services saw revenue more than treble to $104.5 million for the first half of 2017, from $29.3 million a year ago.
The sales and profit growth were driven by the commercial success of the group’s next generation semiconductor handler platform, which was commercially adopted by its key customer in late 2016.
The Edge Singapore understands that US chip giant Intel Corp is one of AEM’s major customers.
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Revenue from its equipment systems business nearly trebled to $100.6 million in 1H17, from $26.3 million a year ago, was largely driven by one-off catch-up sales of kits/pans.
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Revenue from its precision components business climbed 28.0% to $3.9 million in 1H17, due to increased demand from customers.
AEM saw its net profit margin jump to 11.8% in 1H17, from 5.4% a year ago. This was due to its spreading of its fixed costs more effectively on the back of higher sales.
Staff costs increased by 62.1% to $10.0 million in 1H17, mainly due to higher salary cost for additional headcount to support the increased sales orders, as well as a higher bonus provision, including share-based benefits provision.
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As at end June, cash and cash equivalents stood at $5.3 million.
AEM has declared an interim dividend of 2.5 cents per share, payable on Oct 20, 2017.
“The global semiconductor outlook for 2017 and 2018 looks positive,” says AEM chairman Loke Wai San. “We continue to invest in improving our technical capabilities, delivery and field service support to better serve our main customer’s longer term roadmap and global footprint requirements.”
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“At the same time, we continue to be on the lookout for possible acquisition targets that are synergistic to our business,” he adds.
Shares of AEM closed 1 cent higher at $2.86 on Monday.
