Frencken (SGX:E28) reported 3Q23 revenue of S$184.4m (-5.6% y-o-y, +3% q-o-q). Though the gross profit margin contracted to 12.4% from 13.7% in 3Q22 due to lower revenue, inflationary cost pressures, and increased depreciation expenses, as Frencken continues to upgrade and expand its global manufacturing facilities, it is still a shade better than the 12.3% in 1H23.
3Q23 revenue in line but net profit above expectations
Semiconductor – revenue decreased 10.5% y-o-y to S$74.6m.
Europe saw higher orders from a key semiconductor equipment customer, but this was insufficient to fully compensate for lower sales in Asia, which was affected by the industry slowdown.
- Read this at SGinvestors.io -
Medical – revenue increased 19.5% y-o-y, mainly due to higher sales to a significant customer in Europe.
Analytical & life sciences – higher sales in Europe and Asia have led to the 22.4% y-o-y increase in revenue.
Industrial automation – the significant y-o-y decline of 63.5% in revenue was mainly due to the lower capital expenditure requirement of a key customer.
Revenue of the Integrated Manufacturing Services (IMS) division dipped marginally by 5.7% y-o-y to S$24.3m in 3Q23, mainly due to lower sales in the automotive and consumer & industrial electronics segments.
Sequential improvement in net margins; expect continued recovery from trough margin of 3% registered in 1Q23.
Read more at SGinvestors.io.
Above is an excerpt from a report by DBS Group Research. Clients of DBS may access the full PDF report @ https://www.dbs.com/insightsdirect/.
