KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): Pelikan International Corp Bhd's net loss narrowed 4.3% to RM10.72 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015 (1QFY15) as against RM11.2 million a year ago, after it excluded a RM2.6 million share of losses which was borne by its non-controlling interests.

As a result, loss per share shrunk to 1.95 sen from 2.2 sen in 1QFY14.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Pelikan (fundamental: 0.35; valuation: 0.3) said the losses were mainly attributable to lower margin contribution due to lower sales value in the quarter under review.

Revenue fell 9.8% to RM282 million from RM312.6 million in 1QFY14.

“The decrease was mainly contributed by the group’s main revenue currency i.e. the euro which depreciated by 9.8% against the ringgit compared with the previous year’s corresponding quarter,” Pelikan said.

Moving forward, the stationery maker noted that markets in its key operating countries will continue to be challenging as consumers and business remain cautious on spending and expansions.

Pelikan said it will continue its effort to implement strategies within its product assortments and distribution channels to improve operating margins and reduce operational costs.

The counter closed unchanged at RM1.14 today, with a market capitalisation of RM625.14 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)