[ad_1]
KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): JF Technology Bhd, whose share price soared to a record high today, will partner with a Chinese smartphone giant to establish a manufacturing plant in China, according to sources familiar with the plan.
The new investment is for the company listed on the ACE market to establish itself in China. It is understood that the rationale for investing in a manufacturing plant on the mainland is to have the opportunity to be part of the supply chain in China’s semiconductor industry.
However, the details of the investment plan are incomplete. The amount JF Technology will need to invest for the new production facilities is not known, as is the partnership structure between the group and the smartphone giant.
JF Technology is expected to reveal details of the plan, among others, next Monday.
JF Technology, which specializes in making test plugs, asked the stock exchange to suspend trading of its securities next Monday, pending “material announcements,” according to a document submitted to Bursa Malaysia after hours. commercial today.
“The suspension request is made in accordance with paragraph 3.1 (c) of Guidance Note 12 of the Bursa Malaysia Securities ACE Trading Requirements,” the document says.
Shares of JF Technology rose 23 sen or 5.03% to close at an all-time high of RM 4.80 today, making it the fifth biggest gain in Bursa Malaysia. Today around 12.9 million shares were traded.
So far this year, the shares have rallied more than three times (216%), from RM1.52. This brings its market capitalization to RM1.08 billion, from RM343.14 million earlier this year.
It is clear that the trade tension between the US and China has spread to the semiconductor industry. Huawei is at the center of the commercial tension. Last year, US President Donald Trump blacklisted Huawei amid the Sino-US trade dispute, which effectively cut off US chipmakers from Huawei’s supply chain.
Huawei has made it known that it will have to stop production of its latest smartphone model due to a shortage of semiconductor chips.
It was reported today that Huawei had to stockpile critical radio chips before Trump’s sanctions, ensuring it could have enough to power the $ 170 billion 5G rollout through at least 2021.
A large portion or 34% of JF Technology’s total revenue for the full financial year ending June 30, 2020 came from its customers in China, followed by Malaysia (25%), USA (11%) , The Philippines (9%), Thailand (7%), Taiwan (6%) and other countries (7%).
For its fourth quarter ended June 30, 2020, the company posted a net profit of RM3.09 million, up from a net loss of RM656,000 in the same period last year, while quarterly revenue also increased by 60 % to RM8.13 million. , from RM5.08 million.
The company attributed its profitability in the quarter to “much stronger demand” from its overseas customers, as well as lower operating expenses, despite the Motion Control Order as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its annual net profit for the full year ended June 30, 2020 more than doubled to RM8.02 million, from RM3.02 million, while revenue grew 16.5% to RM26.82 million, from RM23. , 03 million.
Read also:
Trading of JF Technology shares will be suspended next Monday, pending the ‘material announcement’
[ad_2]
