The group, formerly known as Ancom Bhd, said revenue dipped marginally to RM531.25 million from RM532.91 million, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
For the first half (H1 FY2023), Ancom Nylex’s net profit surged 91.21% to RM40.59 million from RM21.12 million with revenue increasing 15.3% to RM1.08 billion against RM937.64 million a year ago. No dividend was declared for the quarter.
Ancom Nylex managing director and group CEO Lee Cheun Wei said: “We are delighted to have kept up the positive momentum and delivered our best-ever first half net profit performance while navigating through the headwinds.
“This was chiefly driven by our agrichem segment following strong demand for our products, especially in the Asean region.”
Boost from the agricultural chemical division
Ancom Nylex’s agricultural chemical division reported higher revenue of RM141.9 million for Q2 compared to RM133.7 million a year ago, attributed to higher sales volume.
The segment’s profit rose to RM21.3 million in Q2 from RM16.5 million in its corresponding quarter last year.
As for industrial chemicals, it posted a lower revenue of RM336.5 million in Q2 compared with RM354.4 million a year ago due to lower average selling prices. With ongoing geopolitical tensions and lower crude oil price (CPO), global demand has weakened, it added.
The segment recorded a 70% decline in profit to RM4.1 million compared to its previous corresponding quarter of RM13.9 million.
Meanwhile, the logistics division registered a profit of RM3.1 million compared to a loss of RM1.1 million a year ago, due to higher charter volume for chemical vessels and profit contribution from 51%-owned subsidiary One Chem Terminal Sdn Bhd.
The logistics segment saw higher revenue of RM14.5 million compared to RM10.7 million on an individual quarter basis.
The polymer division recorded a 27.9% decline in revenue to RM18.7 million in Q2 from RM26 million a year earlier due to lower contribution from the manufacturing plants in Shah Alam and Indonesia.
Consequently, the division recorded lower profit of RM1.6 million compared with RM2 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
“We are in the midst of installing new reactors at our Shah Alam plant to increase capacity for urban storm water management-related products, which is to be completed soon.
“This would enable us to capitalise on the surging demand resulting from the ban of a close substitute, namely paraquat from Thailland,” Lee said.
Vigilant in managing risks
The group noted the global economy has been affected by the rapid and synchronous monetary policy tightening of major economies worldwide to contain inflation. This has exerted a substantial weakening of economic activities and increased the risks of recession.
“The management will continue to be vigilant in managing these risks and continue to explore and expand opportunities for our business,” it added.
On March 21, 2022, the group and its subsidiary Nylex (Malaysia) Bhd entered into a heads of agreement with Sinar Bina Infra Sdn Bhd, LBS Bina Group Bhd, and BTS Group Holdings Public Company Ltd to collaborate to build and operate a light rail transport system (LRT) connected with the railway shuttle link currently being built from Singapore to Johor, along with a transit-oriented development.
Ancom Nylex’s share price closed at RM1.18 today, down one sen, valuing the group at RM1.13 billion.