KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 19): Hextar Global Bhd (KL:HEXTAR) expects improving herbicide prices in the near future, after posting a 28% increase in its latest quarterly net profit, on strong growth from its specialty-chemicals segment.

Hextar’s net profit for the three months ended Sept 30, 2024 (3QFY2024) was RM19.70 million, compared with RM15.39 million in the corresponding quarter.

The specialty-chemicals segment helped cushion weaker margins in the agriculture segment, the agrochemical outfit said.

However, it said its agriculture segment’s performance is catching up with the specialty-chemicals segment, “as prices of herbicide products are expected to stabilise and we anticipate that there will be positive upward price movement in the near future”.

During the quarter under review, Hextar proposed a second interim single-tier dividend of 0.8 sen per ordinary share.

Revenue for the quarter increased by 38.27% to RM252.96 million, from RM182.93 million in the corresponding quarter.  

Meanwhile, for the first nine months of the year, Hextar reported a 46.97% rise in net profit to RM51.01 million, as well as a jump in revenue of 53.39% of RM698.19 million, compared with RM455.15 million in the corresponding period.  

This increase in revenue was due to the newly acquired Fruits segment’s durian season, which contributed RM154.1 million, along with the specialty-chemicals segment’s contribution of RM109 million to the group’s revenue, while the agriculture segment was relatively stable. 

“We have set up a plan to strengthen our marketing force with the new intake of experienced and competent sales and technical team,” Hextar said in a bourse filing.

“The focus in 2024 is to campaign aggressively in overseas markets, as the efforts put to work in 2023 have delivered positive results. We are expecting enhanced revenue in the upcoming year,” it added.

Headquartered in Klang, Malaysia, Hextar operates a network of six manufacturing plants, located throughout Peninsular Malaysia, in addition to a manufacturing facility in Indonesia.  

At the time of writing on Tuesday, Hextar shares were unchanged at 89 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM3.51 billion. The counter is up nearly 15% this year.