Perstima ... July 2008

A tin plate manufacturer is confident that its balance sheet will improve, following a recently completed expansion programme at its facilities in Pasir Gudang, Johor, and Vietnam.

The company spent some RM60 million to upgrade facilities at these plants since last year (2007). They completed upgrading our facilities in Pasir Gudang with investment of RM26 million last year (2007). And just completed upgrading its facilities in Vietnam last May that cost us about US$10.7 million (RM34.6 million).

At this stage, they don't have anymore plans for future expansion.

At present, Perstima exports its tin plate products to several countries such as Iran, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia and Vietnam.

Perstima had already seen some improvement in its balance sheet up to March this year (2008) as its cash position stood at RM40 million from RM37 million the year before.

Financial Results …

For the financial year ended March 31 2008, the group recorded turnover of RM740 million, an increase of 12.1 per cent compared to the previous year. This was due mainly to the higher sales volume for both plants in Pasir Gudang and Vietnam.

However, Perstima posted a lower pre-tax profit of RM48.7 million compared with RM59.4 million in the previous year due to a lower profit margin.