KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): ViTrox Corp Bhd (KL:VITROX) reported a net profit of RM22.58 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2024 (4QFY2024), a 7.5% decrease year-on-year (y-o-y) from RM24.4 million a year ago, mainly bogged down by increased operating expenses.

Its operating expenses rose 11.9% to RM133.59 million from RM119.39 million a year ago.

In a bourse filing, the Penang-based automated test equipment (ATE) maker said the lower profitability was due to continuous investment in research and development (R&D) activities.

Earnings per share for 4QFY2024 were 1.19 sen, down from 1.29 sen in the same quarter last year.

Quarterly revenue, however, rose 4.6% y-o-y to RM148.8 million from RM142.23 million, driven by improved sales in the machine vision system (MVS) segment.

ViTrox wrapped up FY2024 on a weaker note with a net profit of RM90.36 million — its lowest since FY2019 when it posted an annual earnings of RM79.65 million — a 29.6% drop from the previous year on softer revenue and continuous investment in R&D.

Annual revenue also declined 3.9% to a four-year low of RM552.3 million from RM574.92 million.

The group paid a total dividend of 1.6 sen per share for FY2024, lower than the 2.7 sen declared for FY2023.

Looking ahead, ViTrox is cautiously optimistic on capitalising on the industry’s recovery in 2025, with the Semiconductor Industry Association having projected a double-digit growth in 2025, especially in modern technologies, which include artificial intelligence, communications, medical devices and advanced transportation.

ViTrox's share price closed at RM3.50 on Thursday, bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM6.62 billion.