KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): Zhulian Corp Bhd’s net profit in the third quarter ended Aug 31, 2017 (3QFY17) rose 138% to RM14.58 million, from RM6.11 million a year ago, as it recorded higher revenue and a 2.9-times jump in other comprehensive income during the quarter.

In a filing with the bourse today, Zhulian said improved earnings was boosted by a 41% y-o-y rise to RM4.23 million in its share of profit of equity accounted investee, and as total other comprehensive income grew to RM6.96 million from RM2.42 million.

Quarterly revenue was up 13% to RM44.78 million, from RM44.01 million a year earlier.

Zhulian also announced a third interim dividend of 1.5 sen per share, to be paid on Nov 30, in respect of its FY17.

In the cumulative nine months of FY17 (9MFY17), net profit jumped 96% y-o-y to RM41.33 million, from RM21.13 million, which it attributed to improved margin at some subsidiaries, in line with higher revenue and lower expenses. 

"The favourable profit before tax for the period was also contributed by the increase in share of profit by 19%, as compared to last year's corresponding period,"the filing added. 

Revenue rose 5.2% y-o-y from RM139.39 million to RM146.68 million, thanks to higher export revenue from Myanmar.

Moving forward, Zhulian said the current environment for its present business segments continues to be challenging due to economic uncertainties, hence, it will continue to revive the domestic market, while exploring untapped markets in other Asean countries.

It also said it plans to explore new opportunities by venturing into other businesses.
 
“We also look forward to improving the contribution from the MLM (multi-level marketing) segments, especially from our Thailand and Myanmar markets, in order to drive growth momentum for the overall Indochina market once we materialise our plan to enter Cambodia and Laos market,” it said.
 
“The group will continue to adopt rationalisation in our business operations. Besides, we will also continue with our effort to further contain costs and improve operational efficiency and productivity for our products, to deliver a better financial performance in year 2017,” Zhulian added.
 
Zhulian shares closed unchanged at RM1.64 today, valuing it at RM754.4 million.