KUALA LUMPUR: Globetronics Technology Bhd recorded its strongest quarterly results yet this year in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017, helping to reassure shareholders who were last week told of the company’s need to conserve cash for its capital expenditures and expansion.

In its latest interim results report to Bursa Malaysia, the integrated circuits maker announced that its net profit soared 57.1% to RM14.40mil in the quarter under review from a year earlier.

Revenue also grew strongly by 65.9% to RM87.01mil.

Gobetronics attributed the improved revenue and net profit to the higher volume loadings and the start of mass production of new products from certain customers in the group.

The strong performance in the quarter helped lift the group’s cumulative net profit for the first nine months of the year by 34.9% to RM26.11mil, with revenue rising 18.5% to RM199.77mil.

It said the better results for the Jan-Sept period were mainly due to the pick-up in volume loadings from the mass production of new products from some customers, lower forex loss (net) of RM1.6mil recognised in the income statement compared to a forex loss of RM3mil in last year’s corresponding period, and higher gain on disposal of property, plant and/or equipment of RM1.1mil.

Globetronics said the group expected to see “significant improvement” in business and volume loadings for all its major product portfolios for the rest of this year, thus enabling it to report a stronger financial performance.

“The group will continue to focus on escalating up the value chain and riding on the R&D (research and development) initiatives in new products design and development with our key customers. This initiative is expected to result in the manufacturing of additional new products in year 2018,” it said.

Last week, Globetronics said it was declaring a lower special dividend of 3 sen to be distributed along with its second interim ordinary dividend of 4 sen, compared with a special dividend of 7 sen given a year earlier.

This raised the total dividend announced so far this year to 16 sen (2016: 23 sen).

In September, StarBiz had reported that Globetronics was expected to increase its capital expenditure for this year to RM103mil from RM85mil planned in the first quarter in order to meet the rising orders for its sensor products.

More than 85% of the investment would be for the development and production of three new sensors, said its group chief executive officer Datuk Heng Huck Lee.