KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): Garments and plastic packaging products manufacturer Magni-Tech Industries Bhd saw its net profit soar 2.7 times year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM21.63 million in its second quarter ended Oct 31, 2015 (2QFY16) from RM8 million, largely due to the stronger US dollar against the ringgit during the period.

Revenue for the quarter rose 21.8% y-o-y to RM197.34 million from RM162.04 million, its filing to Bursa Malaysia today showed.

The company also declared a single-tier interim dividend of 5 sen per share, along with a special dividend of 3 sen per share for the financial year ending April 30, 2016 (FY16). Both dividends are payable on Jan 26, 2016, and will go ex on Jan 7.

The group said its profit before taxation for the current quarter rose by 165%, mainly due to higher garment revenue and higher other operating income, which came about from the favourable currency exchange rate and positive results from ongoing productivity improvement and cost control measures.

It highlighted that its garment business was a beneficiary of the stronger greenback, which resulted in a 27.5% increase in the segment's revenue, though that was partly offset by a 2.6% fall in revenue from its packaging business.

For the first half of its financial year (1HFY16), net profit more than doubled y-o-y to RM37.20 million from RM18.09 million, as revenue rose 15% y-o-y to RM391.16 million from RM339.28 million.

Going forward, the company expects its garments business to remain its major revenue contributor, which accounted for about 84.8% of its revenue for the financial period, and expects both its business divisions to remain profitable in the current financial year.

However, it remains cautiously positive for the remainder of FY16, amid the uncertainty in the global economy.

Magni-Tech shares fell 2 sen or 0.48% to RM4.18 today, which valued the group at RM680.22 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)