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KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 4): Shares of JF Technology Bhd (KL:JFTECH) rose as much as 12 sen or 22.64% from their four-year lows, on news that the company will begin US sales from January 2025 by leveraging the distribution network of US-based Ironwood Electronics.
Shares of JF Tech opened two sen higher at 55 sen. At the time of writing on Wednesday, the counter was traded up 11 sen or 20.75% at 64 sen, having touched a high of 65 sen earlier. Trading volume surged to 3.03 million in the first 40 minutes of trading, more than six times its 65-day average volume of 486,860 shares.
The rebound represented a breakout from an over four-year low of 50 sen earlier this week, where trading volume surged days after the company delivered its worst quarter since 2019 and proposing to undertake a 10% private placement to raise as much as RM46 million including for new acquisitions or ventures.
It was the ninth top gainer at the time of writing on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Bursa Malaysia Technology Index had risen 1.5% at the time of writing, ahead of the FBM KLCI’s 0.4% rise.
For the first quarter ended June 30, 2024 (1QFY2025), JF Tech’s net profit fell nearly 90% year-on-year and 47.6% quarter-on-quarter to RM323,000, on revenue of RM9.96 million, due to a shift in product mix, higher foreign exchange losses, increased depreciation from the new facility, and lower interest income.
“It is noteworthy to mention that the joint venture (JV) with Shenzhen HFC Co Ltd via the JV entity, HFC Tech Sdn Bhd, has begun to bear fruit and contributed positively to the group’s earnings in the current quarter under review,” said the group, which manufactures electronic products, components and test probes.
The group also bought into two Singapore-based companies — a 100% stake in Transcend Target Companies, and 80% in front-end wafer testing Q3 Probe Pte Ltd — for RM26 million.
"We expect to grow strongly in both the companies because demand for probe components is increasing, and because [of] the over 200 customers that we have not served. So with this [acquisition], we are the only Malaysian company in this probe parts (business), and with this size," co-founder and managing director Datuk Foong Wei Kuong told The Edge after the group’s annual general meeting on Tuesday.