The Group is exposed to foreign currency risk primarily through sales and purchases of raw materials, i.e. paper rolls and machineries that were transacted in USD, SGD and EURO, as a result of strengthening of USD, SGD and EURO against RM. The Group does not practice any active hedging of foreign currency due to unpredictable fluctuation of foreign currency. The management of foreign currency risk is performed through closed monitoring of foreign currency movement with limited hedging through forward contracts and active cash flow planning by the Management.
In order to reduce the impact of foreign currency on the cost of paper packaging and paper based stationery products produced, the Group reduced its dependency on import of paper rolls from overseas by substituting the consumption requirements through local sources. However, it will still be depending on the availability of paper supply in Malaysia and overseas as a result of the global paper shortage encountered.
The paper packaging division continued to form the mainstay of the Group’s business, demonstrated by its sales contribution of more than 90% of the Group’s total revenue in 2017. Electronic and electrical (“E&E”) industry, food and beverage (“F&B”) industry as well as furniture industry remained as the top three (3) sectors for the revenue generation of the Group, amounted to 43% of the Group’s sales in 2017.
The revenue growth was mainly driven by the increase in average selling price of corrugated boards and cartons boxes both by approximately 18% and 11% respectively from 2016 to 2017, as a result of the continuous cost pass-through efforts by the Group’s Sales and Marketing division in dealing with the increasing raw materials costs which was affected by both the limited supply of paper rolls and increasing demand of paper packaging and paper based stationery products, as well as the weak Ringgit Malaysia (“RM”) in terms of imports. Nonetheless, the improved product mix structure by improving the premium cartons’ contribution to the overall sales composition also contributed to the increase in average selling price. Besides, the improved revenue in the current financial year was also partly contributed by the increased sales volume in 2017 secured from the new and existing customers albeit the weak business climate, resulting from the Group’s strategy not to overly dependent on one industry but diversifying its customer base to wide spectrum of industries to counter the seasonal and cyclical pattern of a particular industry. The increase in net sales volume from 2016 to 2017 by approximately 7.55% was observed mostly from the paper packaging division, from approximately 87,345 MT in 2016 to 93,940 MT in 2017.
Cost of goods sold recorded an increase by approximately RM 45.941 million or 20% from RM224.122 million for 2016 to RM 270.063 million for 2017, mainly contributed by the upsurge in paper costs in consequence of the paper shortage with increasing demand, as well as higher consumption of raw materials, labours and direct overheads expenses incurred in 2017 to accommodate the increase in sales volume during the year. Paper roll is accounted to be the highest cost component of both the paper packaging and paper based stationery products. The average purchase price of paper roll (per metric tonne (“MT”)) and the quantity of paper rolls consumed in 2017 increased by approximately 19% and 8% respectively compared to the previous financial year. Despite the increase in cost of goods sold driven by the price hike and tight supply of raw materials, the gross profit margin of the Group remained relatively stable at 18% in 2017 compared to 2016, principally due to the improved plants’ capacity utilisation and efficiency to drive down unit manufacturing cost as well as continuous cost pass-through exercises by the Sales and Marketing Department of respective operating subsidiaries. The gross profit margin of the paper packaging and paper based stationery division were approximately 16% and 11% respectively in 2017.
Waiting for you to say give up hope, look for stock with better short term prospect. ======================================================================
Posted by probability > May 22, 2018 11:35 PM | Report Abuse
if upstream margins are to expand due to cheaper raw mat...what could possibly squeeze downstream margin?
orna worth more than 1.00, expecting to fluctuate at 1.2~1.3. orna and muda different business models but interestingly orna movement always in parallel to muda..
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
jordanmaggie61
1,894 posts
Posted by jordanmaggie61 > 2018-04-12 10:09 | Report Abuse
I am still waiting for you