KUALA LUMPUR: China-based frozen food maker, HB Global Ltd (HGL) turnaround plan is bearing fruit as the company posted a net profit of RM4.26 million for the first quarter (Q1) financial year ended March 31, 2021 from a net loss of RM6.52 million in the previous year.
Revenue increased 81.8 per cent to RM16.0 million in Q1 from RM8.80 million previously, led by improvement in all business segments.
This is as more countries have eased their restrictions at the beginning of this year, the company in a statement today said.
HGL executive director Lee Ping Wei said the company's turnaround plan is starting to take shape after the revamp of its internal supply chain system with digital innovation.
Lee said the positive earnings during Q1 reflect the potential of the company's supply chain management services, which optimise the supply chain management process with our artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm solutions.
"Over the last three months, we have seen a pickup in demand for our products as seen by the increase in our revenue.
"However, we have also witnessed a resurgence of Covid-19 cases recently, which cost disrupt some of our business operations and demand," he said.
Lee said given the uncertainties posed by the lingering pandemic effect, the company has taken proactive measures to restructure the company by reducing our cost structure.
"The medium-term prospects for the company are buoyed by our leaner and more agile structure," he said.
Aside from that, on April 1, 2021 HGB plans to acquire a 60 per cent-stake in Forward Resources & Construction Sdn Bhd (FRC) for RM66 million.
Lee said the company could tap on FRC's key strength in the building of telco infrastructure and its own expertise to lay fibre optics using robotic services.
"With robots, the services to lay cables via the sewerage system will be more efficient.
"Given the fibre optic cable business has gained momentum with the government's push for the rollout of commercial 5G services by the end of this year, we are confident that will put HGB in a strong position to secure some of these contracts with the telco players," he added.