PETALING JAYA: Guan Chong Bhd posted a net profit of RM51.24 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021, a 9.5% improvement over RM46.79 million reported in the same quarter of the preceding year mainly due to improved margins.
Revenue for the quarter rose 6.4% to RM1.09 billion from RM1.02 billion reported previously, led by higher sales tonnage during the period amidst the reopening of economies and higher consumption during festive season.
For the full financial year of 2021, the group’s net profit came in at RM155.98 million, a 30% decrease from RM222.71 million reported in the same quarter of the preceding year, due to competitive margins committed and higher freight costs registered during FY2021.
Revenue for the year saw a slight uptick of 1.9% to RM3.92 billion from RM3.68 billion registered previously.
It proposed a final single-tier tax exempt dividend of 2 sen per share subject to shareholder’s approval.
Guan Chong expects the container shortage issue to persist throughout the year but expects it to slightly ease off and improve in the second half of 2022. It pointed out the high freight costs will likely reduce the price competitiveness of its products coming from Asia, as compared to products from European and American markets.
However, the group is confident in its long term prospects and the uptrend of future cocoa and chocolate demand. It will continue its strong focus on exploring new markets particularly in Europe.
Guan Chong managing director and CEO Brandon Tay Hoe Lian said it is seeing good demand for cocoa ingredients, in tandem with the recovering economy as the world heads into the Covid-19 endemic phase.
“We believe the completion of our grinding facilities in Ivory Coast, which is expected to provide us with an additional 60,000 MT of capacity per year, will help address the higher demand received from both our new and existing clients. Moving into the year 2022, we are optimistic in capitalising on the recovering economy and deliver a better performance in the new year to come.” The group’s new Ivory Coast grinding facility is slated to start operations in mid-2022.