Tien Wah Press in the red in Q3 on closure cost in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: Tien Wah Press Holdings Bhd saw a net loss of RM7.09 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017 versus a net profit of RM4.16 million in the same quarter a year ago, dragged down by closure cost of RM13.6 million as a result of the cessation of its Malaysian printing operations, forex losses of RM2.4 million and cost incurred for the new operations in Dubai of RM1.7 million.
Excluding the aforesaid, its profit before tax would have been RM4.9 million.
Revenue, however, increased 26% from RM82.93 million to RM104.5 million, attributable to the revenue consolidation of a newly acquired foreign subsidiary.
Tien Wah told Bursa Malaysia that the tobacco industry continues to face challenges from illicit trade and anti-smoking legislation.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the group expects to complete the restructuring of its production footprint by the end of the year.
"Moving forward, the group will be better placed to capitalise the growth opportunities in Indonesia and Dubai and to identify growth opportunities in other geographical segments," it added.
For the first nine months of the year, Tien Wah reported a net loss of RM17.41 million against a net profit of RM15.88 million, with revenue expanding 31.2% from RM246.49 million to RM323.36 million.
At 12.30 pm, the stock was untraded at RM1.65.