PENANG: LKT Industrial Bhd expects group annual revenue to increase to RM600mil in three to five years with the growth driven by its new division, Meerkat.

Executive chairman and chief executive officer Dato’ Vincent Loh Khee Lian said Meerkat had the capacity to generate revenue of RM500mil annually in three to five years.

“This would push the group's annual revenue to RM600mil by then,” he told reporters after the company AGM here yesterday.

Loh said LKT restructured its business divisions last year to form Meerkat to concentrate on technology equipment and instrument integration for international original equipment manufacturers (OEM).

LKT's RM15mil eighth plant, and the sixth in Penang, was completed at the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) in August last year to house Meerkat Technologies Sdn Bhd (formerly LKT Manufacturing Sdn Bhd).

Loh said construction of the group's ninth plant on 1.37ha at the Bayan Lepas FIZ began in March last year and was scheduled to be ready next month.

“The RM19mil plant will house the business activities of Meerkat Technologies and its instrument integration arm Meerkat Integrator Sdn Bhd (formerly LKT Ergonomic System Sdn Bhd),” he added.

LKT, listed on Bursa Malaysia main board, also has a plant each in Kulim, Kedah, and Ayutthaya in Thailand. The group is primarily involved in the design and manufacture of automated equipment, including its precursory services, for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries.

On the group's performance for the year ended Dec 31, 2006, Loh said LKT registered revenue of RM274mil, an increase of 28% from RM214mil in 2005.

“The growth is in tandem with our customers' increased capital expenditure to support their product demand. The group's contract manufacturing division also contributed significantly to the rise in revenue,” he added.

Loh said profit after tax increased slightly to RM25.2mil from RM25mil in 2005, mainly due to favourable effective tax rates from various tax incentive schemes secured by LKT.

A first and final tax-exempt dividend of 10% per share was approved at yesterday's AGM.

Loh said the semiconductor equipment industry was forecast to see flat-to-moderate growth this year and accelerated growth in 2008.


Source: The Star_StarBiz_9th May 2007