AEM net profit more than doubles to S$3.1 million
Revenue for the period rose 10 per cent year on year to S$190.3 million, up from S$173.6 million previously.
The semiconductor test-equipment maker said on Wednesday (Aug 13) that the increase was driven by a higher volume of sales to its anchor customer, as well as the pull-in of orders from other clients.
The revenue figure is in line with its revised guidance for the first half of the financial year, which was raised to between S$185 million and S$195 million, from an earlier forecast of S$155 million to S$170 million.
The stronger bottom line is the result of the absence of one-off losses of the year before, when other expenses in H1 FY2024 included a S$2.3 million loss on the disposal of an associate.
Gross profit for H1 FY2025 rose 11 per cent to S$48.3 million, from S$43.4 million a year ago.
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Revenue for its test-cell solutions segment rose to S$118.6 million, up 18.8 per cent from a year ago. AEM said that the higher revenue was due to the successful production deployment of the group's semiconductor tester solution, AMPS-BI, together with pull-in of orders into H1.
However, contract manufacturing revenue for the half-year declined by 4.7 per cent to S$67 million for H1, due to reduced demand from some end customers amid global trade uncertainties.
The group generated an operating cashflow of S$46.4 million in H1, largely from the consumption of inventories.
Earnings per share for the period rose to S$0.0098 per share, from S$0.0029 a year earlier.
For the second half of this year, the group forecasts revenue to be in the range of S$170 million to S$190 million, broadly in line with H1 revenue.
This range reflects anticipated growth in the shipment of its AMPS-BI in Q4, although this may be partially offset by the timing of certain orders and potential foreign-exchange fluctuations, said the group.
AEM's recently appointed chief executive officer , Samer Kabbani, said that the company has developed the next generation of test technologies, creating a strong foundation for the next phase of AEM's journey.
He said: 'We are near the stage of our technology roadmap and customer engagements where these innovations are ready to scale into high-volume production. We remain engaged with our customers to ensure our solutions address their most critical challenges as we enter this exciting phase of execution and expansion.'
Shares of AEM closed flat at S$1.53 on Wednesday, before the results were announced.
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