KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 29): Unisem (M) Bhd (KL:UNISEM) net profit grew 48% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 60% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in the quarter ended Sept 30, 2024 (3QFY2024), which it attributed to higher sales volume and foreign exchange gains.

The semiconductor device manufacturer recorded RM26.75 million in net profit for the quarter, compared with RM18.01 million in 3QFY2023 and RM16.76 million in 2QFY2024, its filing showed.

In the quarter, Unisem booked forex gains of RM12.03 million, from losses in 3QFY2023 (RM3.25 million) and smaller gains of RM2.51 million in 2QFY2024.

Revenue grew 15% y-o-y to RM409.74 million, its highest since the last semiconductor upcycle in 4QFY2022.

Quarterly earnings per share rose to 1.66 sen, from 1.12 sen in 3QFY2023. It declared a dividend of two sen per share for the quarter payable on Dec 20, bringing the 9MFY2024 dividend to six sen per share, unchanged from a year ago.

“Despite the challenging macroeconomic and on-going geopolitical conflicts, the directors expect the performance of the group to be satisfactory in the next financial quarter,” Unisem said.

“The global tech sector is poised for significant growth in 2025, driven by smartphone market recovery, accelerating electric vehicle uptake and rising demand for data centres and cloud services fuelled by AI adoption and digital transformation,” it said.

Despite the strong rebound in 3QFY2024, Unisem’s cumulative performance in 9MFY2024 was relatively flat y-o-y with a net profit of RM51.97 million or 3.22 sen per share, up just 0.3% from RM51.8 million or 3.21 sen per share in 9MFY2023. Cumulative revenue rose 7.37% to RM1.17 billion, from RM1.09 billion.

Shares of Unisem rose one sen or 0.32% to RM3.14 at noon break, valuing the group at RM5.07 billion. The counter is down 5% this year.