GEORGE TOWN (Jan 27): Pentamaster Corp Bhd (KL:PENTA) is poised for a significant performance rebound in the 2026 fiscal year, backed by a robust RM400 million order book for assembly and test equipment (ATE), and factory automation solutions that are slated for delivery in the first half of the year.
Group executive chairman Datuk Chuah Choon Bin told The Edge in a recent interview that the group expects to achieve double-digit percentage revenue growth in 2026. This follows a "modest" 2025, which Chuah characterised as a transition period focused on laying the foundation for the group's next growth phase.
The latest growth projection comes after a challenging period for the group. In the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024), the group saw revenue dip 10% to RM623 million due to the automotive slowdown, while net profit sank 26.8% to RM65.21 million. This downward trend continued into the first nine months of FY2025, with revenue dropping another 13.8% to RM424.6 million and net profit sliding 18.1% to RM41.79 million.
While its medical segment remains a stable pillar for the group, with contribution expected to stay between 35% and 40% for FY2026, another contributing segment is smartphones, which the group expect to see contribution hit 20% from less than 10% in FY2025.
Its electric vehicle segment, however, will see its share of revenue drop to 10% from about 40%.
The group expects its pivot to new factory automation system products to counter the cooling EV market, with advanced chip packaging contributing 10% to the group revenue in FY2026 and artificial intelligence (AI) servers making up about 15%. Orders are expected to continue to strengthen with steady momentum, supported by purchases from new and existing customers across its key segments, Chuah said.
The group is now leveraging its RM300 million capital expenditure programme that was completed across 2024 and 2025. "These investments should start generating returns this year," Chuah said.
Hence, the RM400 million orders secured for delivery in the first half of 2026 provides high visibility for the group to achieve a revenue recovery that could exceed the RM700 million mark.
The group is also intensifying research and development in high-complexity solutions designed for AI accelerators, hyperscale infrastructure and chiplet architectures. This new portfolio of ATE includes: wafer inspection and acceptance systems, high power burn-in systems, and silicon photonics and co-packaged optics test systems.
"These solutions are designed to address the increasing complexity and performance requirements of artificial intelligence accelerators in high-performance computing systems, hyperscale infrastructure, chiplet architectures and wide-bandgap semiconductor devices.
“Through continuous innovation and close collaboration with global customers, the group aims to capture emerging opportunities across the AI and semiconductor value chain while further enhancing its technological competitiveness, operational agility and margin resilience,” Chuah said.
Pentamaster shares closed at RM3.69 on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.61 billion. The stock was down about 15.2% from a year ago.