UMS Holdings 558 announced a record FY2022 ended Dec 31, 2022. Its earnings for the full year period came in at $98.2 million, some 85% higher than $53.1 million a year ago.
This came on the back of a 37% y-o-y growth in revenue to $372.4 million from $271.2 million last year.
The sterling performance was mainly driven by the group's strong sales, as well as a reversal of the tax provision made by its Malaysian subsidiary after the resolution of its pioneer tax incentives with the Malaysian government.
Sales in the semiconductor segment rose 33%, buoyed by the robust performances of both its semiconductor integrated system sales, which leapt 47% from $104.2 million in FY2021 to $152.8 million in FY2022, and its component sales which climbed 23% from $138.5 million in FY2021 to $170.2 million in FY2022.
Revenue in its aerospace segment also soared 50% while its Others segment registered a 85% hike in sales.
The group reported significant sales growth in all its key markets. Malaysia and Others delivered the strongest growth of 73% and 87% respectively. Revenue in Singapore jumped 36% as compared to FY2021 while sales in Taiwan and US increased 40% and 12% during the period under review.
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The record performance was achieved despite slightly lower gross material margin, higher expenses and foreign exchange loss (due to the US currency depreciation).
Gross material margin in FY2022 eased to 49.9% from 52.8% in FY2021. This was partly due to the drop in US dollar exchange rate, higher material costs as well as lower margins from Kalf Engineering's sales.
The group's overall costs also went up as all expense categories increased, mainly as a result of the full 12 months consolidation of JEP’s results, compared to eight months in FY2021.
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As at end-December, the group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $31.8 million.
In light of the group’s exceptional performance, UMS has proposed a final tax-exempt dividend of 2 cents per share, thus rewarding shareholders with total dividends of 5.0 cents a share in FY2022.
Andy Luong, UMS chairman and CEO says: “Sustained global chip demand in the first nine months of the year helped lift the Group sales to record highs. Indeed, we experienced higher demand for our systems and components than our existing production capacity can accommodate”
“Looking ahead, the outlook for UMS in next six months will be softer as global chip demand is expected to ease in the near term as customers turn more cautious in the face of an economic slowdown, rising inflation and ongoing geopolitical tensions.”
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the group expects to remain profitable in 2023.
Shares in UMS closed at $1.08.
