• Positive growth in all three core segments
• Upbeat on 2013 ICT spending in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 7 May 2013 – Malaysia’s leading ICT distributor ECS ICT Berhad (ECS, 佳杰科技; Bloomberg: ECS MK; Reuters: ECSI.KL) expects to see higher spending on ICT in Malaysia in 2013, after recording 4.9% increase in revenue to RM320.3 million for its first quarter ended 31 March 2013 (1Q13) versus RM305.4 million previously. 

ECS attributed the topline growth to higher revenue contributions from all three of its business segments – ICT Distribution, Enterprise Systems and ICT Services – during the period under review.  

“We are pleased with our 1Q13 revenue performance, which was due mostly to better consumer spending on ICT products such as tablet and notebook personal computers (PCs) during the quarter under review.

This success validates ECS’s decision to continuously expand our mobility product portfolio range, which now includes tablet PCs and smartphones on top of the traditional notebook PCs.

The Group will continue to boost our product and services offerings so that we can further improve our financial performance going forward.”

Mr. Foo Sen Chin (胡善正)
Managing Director, ECS ICT Berhad

ECS posted profit before tax (PBT) and net profit of RM8.8 million and RM6.4 million respectively for 1Q13, lower compared to PBT of RM11.3 million and net profit of RM8.1 million of the same quarter last year, which saw exceptionally high gross profit margin within the Enterprise Systems business. 

Basic earnings per share was 3.5 sen when compared to 1Q12’s 4.5 sen. 

Financial Summary (Unaudited Consolidated Results)
RM’000	1Q13 31.3.13	1Q12 31.3.12	Change (%)
Revenue	320,335	305,387	4.9
Pre-tax Profit	8,804	11,288	-22.0
Net profit to shareholders	6,381	8,101	-21.2
Basic EPS (sen) *	3.5	4.5	-22.2
*Based on 180 million shares of RM0.50 par value each

On ECS’s prospects for the rest of its financial year ending 31 December 2013 (FY2013), Foo said that the Group would be able to take opportunities from the many positives within the Malaysian market. 

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), Malaysia’s ICT spending was expected to hit USD6.9 billion in 2013, up 7.0% from 2012’s estimated USD6.5 billion, on the back of good demand for enterprise systems and service provider equipment, and strong smartphone and tablet PC sales. 

This growth would be fuelled by an economy that Bank Negara Malaysia, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank have forecasted to grow between 5.0% and 6.0% this year. 

“Based on these factors, we are optimistic on our growth prospects for the remaining three quarters of the year, which will be driven by sustained consumer demand for mobility products and private sector spending on ICT systems.” 

“The new distributorships that we secured in 1Q13 – the Lenovo smartphones, the Samsung mobility devices for the enterprise market, the Microsoft Surface RT tablet PC and IBM’s enterprise cloud computing solutions, plus our ongoing strategy to grow our products and services portfolio – will allow us to expand our business going forward,” he added. 

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