This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 24, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Comintel Corp Bhd, whose share price has had a roller-coaster ride recently, warns that the order volume for its manufacturing division will shrink amid the global economic slowdown, according to its managing director Lim Keng Hock.

“It has not happened so far, but judging from the [business] environment, we expect orders to drop,” Lim told the media after the company’s annual general meeting yesterday.

However, Lim revealed that he is expecting a better set of results for the financial quarter ended April 30.

Comintel returned to the black in the financial year ended Jan 31, 2016 (FY16). The communication electronics manufacturer posted a record high net profit of RM13.48 million, or 9.63 sen per share, a turnaround from a net loss of RM1.4 million in FY15. Its revenue surged by 22% to RM376.72 million, from RM309.54 million previously.

Its chief financial officer Loh Hock Chiang attributed the stellar earnings performance to higher orders for Comintel’s vehicle positioning devices from the US. The company also benefited from a strong US dollar.

“We export these devices to US car insurers, for them to track drivers’ behaviour and determine the insurance premium,” Loh explained.

Comintel was queried by Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday for unusual market activity after its share price plunged 27 sen or 28.8% to 66.5 sen on Tuesday.

Comintel’s share price soared to an eight-year high of 95 sen, from 67 sen, in less than three weeks since May 30. It was the fifth most actively traded stock yesterday, closing at 73 sen.

“None of us sold anything, and we are interested to find out what is the root cause of the sudden slump. It all happened at the final hour of the trading session. From what we got from Bursa [Malaysia], the [trading] orders came in from 4.25pm onwards. The [minority] shareholders asked why we did not react to that, but it happened too fast,” said Lim, who owns a 23.22% equity stake.

The company’s executive director Mohamadon Abdullah is Comintel’s largest shareholder holding a 23.55% stake.

Meanwhile, Lim said Comintel is diversifying its business to manufacture light-emitting diode (LED) lighting products, and street light management systems to further diversify its customer base to reduce dependency on multinational companies and the government.

Among Comintel’s customers are Motorola (Solutions Inc), Halliburton Co, and Bel Power Inc.

“Our expertise in radio communication helps us design products that differentiate our LED from existing players; one of it is our intelligence street light,” he said.