PETALING JAYA: George Kent (Malaysia) Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ending April 30, 2020 fell 72.4% to RM3.73 million from RM13.51 million a year ago affected by the movement control order (MCO).
Its revenue dropped 52.5% to RM39.31 million compared with RM82.78 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.
On its water meter business, the group said its factory was fully closed during the MCO. Although orders for its water meters continued to come in, the group was unable to meet demand due to the production shutdown. It only resumed operations with full workforce capacity and without limitation in operating time from May 4, 2020.
The group is now increasing its manufacturing capacity to clear the backlog of orders, and cater for new orders from contract extensions and new tenders from local and regional water authorities.
On its construction business, George Kent said construction activities ceased completely during the MCO. Work only recommenced early-June 2020 after the completion of the mandatory foreign worker health screenings for Covid-19. The group intends to accelerate progress as it adapts to the government’s standard operating procedures (SOP).
Commenting on the group’s performance, chairman Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock said the MCO has affected its performance in the quarter under review but the robustness of its metering business continued to register orders in spite of the lockdowns locally and abroad.
“In the medium term, our performance will continue to be affected by disruptions including supply-chain issues, government SOPs and social distancing requirements. The group will take active steps to mitigate these disruptions. We have and will continue to drastically reduce costs as one of our major objectives,“ said Tan, adding that it continues to be cautiously optimistic of its prospects.
source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/mco-lowers-george-kent-s-q1-earnings-by-72-XM2619462
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