Monday, October 19, 2009

UAC Bhd ... Oct09

Construction materials manufacturer hopes to ride on the recovery in the property sector to boost demand for its products and drive growth for the company’s sales.

The company’s turnover and volume had declined in the first half of this year as property projects had been rather flat and developments were either deferred or halted. However, the renovation market was quite encouraging in the first half (2009).

The company took a big hit in the fourth quarter (4Q) of 2008 when its net profit fell 94% year-on-year to RM386,000, due to the sharp decline in demand for building products in the domestic market caused by a softening in development projects and in the replacement markets as the economy spiralled downwards.

However, the softening domestic market was partly cushioned by some of its export markets which were still strong. Certain overseas markets were very strong, and were able to enhance our exports to these markets during this time.

Its performance has recovered since. For the second quarter ended June 30, 2009, its net profit rose 20.6% to RM6 million from RM4.9 million a year earlier as re-stocking activities increased demand for its products.

Additionally, substantial gains from disposal of shares and rental income from its UAC tower have also added to its good performance for the quarter.

UAC is currently pushing for the sale of its new product UCO SolidWall System, a solid wall internal system which would benefit contractors in terms of cost. The company had approached various industry players and had gotten encouraging feedback and inquiries.

UAC had also introduced the product to the UAE market and was in discussion with parties from Brunei to bring the product there.

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