SINGAPORE (Feb 28): ZICO Holdings posts full year earnings of RM4.3 million ($1.4 million), a 35.3% decline from earnings of RM6.6 million a year ago.
This was mainly due to higher operating costs to support business growth, and lower other income.
Total operating costs rose to RM66.2 million, of which employee benefits expenses stood at RM35.5 million. The bulk of this increase was due to additional headcount for new businesses in Singapore.
Other income decreased by RM2.3 million, mainly due to lower management fee billed.
Full year revenue grew 26.5% to RM66.7 million, from RM52.8 million a year ago.
This was mainly due to revenue from ZICO’s advisory and transactional services (ATS) segment, which grew 43.8% to RM42.7 million, from RM29.7 million a year ago.
Its licensing services (LS) segment grew 10.5% to RM6.3 million, from RM5.7 million a year ago, due to the higher royalty fees arising from the growth of its licensees’ net revenue.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at RM19.6 million as at Dec 31, 2016.
Looking ahead, ZICO managing director Chew Seng Kok says the group anticipates a “challenging economic environment over the next 12 months”.
“Whilst we will continue to invest in human resources, disruptive technology infrastructure and synergistic acquisitions where appropriate, we will be prudent in our approach,” Chew says.
Shares of ZICO Holdings closed at 28.5 cents on Feb 16.
