PETALING JAYA: Magni-Tech Industries Bhd, which reported lower year-on-year earnings for its second quarter ended Oct 31, 2021, still declared a higher rate of dividends for the period.

       In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company announced that its net profit for the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2021 dropped to RM17.08mil compared with RM20.84mil in the previous corresponding period

       Revenue, meanwhile, declined to RM112.26mil from RM269.10mil a year earlier.

       “Revenue decreased mainly due to the suspension of our Vietnam garment operations, resulting from the major lockdown from July 19, 2021 to Sept 30, 2021 by their government to curb the fast-spreading wave of Covid-19 then.

       “This had adversely affected the garment operations in Vietnam.”

       Magni Tech subsidiary

       For the six-month period ended Oct 31, 2021, Magni-Tech’s net profit dropped to RM38.13mil from RM47.59mil in the previous corresponding period, while revenue declined to RM417.82mil from RM561.09mil a year earlier.

       “Revenue of the group for the financial period decreased mainly due to the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on both our Malaysia and Vietnam operations,” the company said.

       Magni-Tech has declared a single-tier interim dividend of two sen per ordinary share in its second quarter compared with 1.8 sen per ordinary share in the previous corresponding period.

       “The rate of the declared interim dividend is higher by 0.2 sen per ordinary share, because no dividend was declared during the immediate preceding quarter.”

       The company said this was due to the management’s prudent approach to conserve cash in light of the operational disruption and business uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 lockdowns in Vietnam during the first quarter of its current financial year.

       After undergoing the detrimental impact of the major lockdown in Vietnam from July 19 to Sept 30 of this year, Magni-Tech said its garment operations there had resumed production in early October 2021.

       “With the successful vaccination drive for our Vietnam workforce to 90% and with double doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, we are currently operating at 88% of our production capacity,” it said.