Frencken Group has reported earnings of $37.1 million for the FY2024 ended Dec 31, 2024, up 14.3% y-o-y. However, the group reported a 7% y-o-y decline in earnings of $19.0 million for 2HFY2024.

 

Earnings per share for the FY2024 came in at 8.69 cents per share. 

 

The group reported a revenue for FY2024 of $794.3 million, up 6.9% y-o-y. Revenue for the 2HFY2024 grew 7.6% y-o-y to $421.6 million.

 

The group says that its revenue growth was driven by its Mechatronics Division, which offset a dip in revenue of its Integrated Manufacturing Services (IMS). 

 

Revenue from the Mechatronics Division grew 9.3% y-o-y due to higher revenue contributions from the semiconductor, medical and analytical life sciences segments, offsetting a decrease in revenue from the industrial automation segment. 

 

For FY2024, the semiconductor segment registered revenue of $365.5 million, up 29.4% from $282.4 million in FY2023. This was driven by increased orders from a key customer in Europe and continued recovery in sales from the Asia operations.

The medical segment&rsquo s revenue increased 2.4% to $123.0 million in FY2024, buoyed by higher sales in Europe and Asia. Analytical life sciences segment also saw an increase by 6.7% y-o-y to $181.2 million lifted by sales in Europe. 

 

Meanwhile, revenue from the industrial automation segment in FY2024 declined 51.7% y-o-y to $29.0 million, in line with a significant slowdown in orders from a key customer in data storage solutions. This was due to a fundamental change in the customer&rsquo s product to higher capacity storage solutions, leading to a reduction in their unit volume of shipments.

 

IMS division also decreased, as the automotive segment&rsquo s revenue softened.

In line with its practice of rewarding shareholders for their support, the group recommends paying a final tax-exempt dividend of 2.61 cents per share for FY2024.

 

Cash and cash equivalents increased to $159.2 million as at Dec 31, 2024. 

 

Total borrowings as at Dec 31, 2024 decreased to $86.6 million.

 

Total assets stood at $735.1 million as at Dec 31, 2024. 

 

Frencken says that based on current indicators and barring any adverse changes in the operating environment, it expects to post higher revenue in 1HFY2025 compared to 2HFY2024. 

 

The group anticipates sequential improvement in revenue for its semiconductor business in Europe which has continued to grow even during the recent industry downturn. In Asia, the semiconductor segment is also expected to benefit from a pick-up in demand and the group&rsquo s efforts to drive wallet share expansion with key customers in the front-end equipment sector. 

 

Both the medical and analytical life sciences are anticipated to deliver relatively steady revenue in 1H25. In the automotive segment, Frencken was again appointed by Gapwaves as its partner for high volume production of radar antennas for their agreement with another global automotive supplier. This adds to the group&rsquo s radar antenna programs which are slated to enter serial production progressively only from 2026 onwards.