PETALING JAYA: Sedania Innovator Bhd registered a threefold surge in profit after tax (PAT) to RM1.6 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (Q1’23) from RM510,000 in the corresponding quarter in the previous year, on the back of higher revenue.
Revenue grew 29% to RM11.7 million from RM9.0 million in the same quarter last year, due to stronger contributions from the sustainable healthcare and fintech segments, as well as improved operating profits recorded across all business segments.
Founder and managing director Datuk Azrin Mohd Noor said that group’s Q1’23 PAT surpassed the full-year earnings for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY’22).
He said that its sustainable healthcare brand, Offspring, is present in 26 countries across multiple regions after its latest expansion into the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. With about 200 countries in the world and the United Nations projecting a population increase of nearly 2 billion people in the next 30 years, the group believes that there are ample opportunities of growth for the brand.
“The growth prospects for our FinTech segment also look exponential as it would be accelerated by the digital hibah collaboration with our newest associate company Wasiyyah Shoppe Berhad (Wasiyyah Shoppe). With the hibah execution rate among Muslims in Malaysia currently standing at a tiny 0.2%, the growth opportunities are aplenty.
“We are in a prime position to expand our earnings by venturing into this untapped market while driving sustainable inheritance and wealth planning for the local Muslim community, particularly with several financial services institutions expressing interest in our full-fledged end-to-end digital hibah platform,” he said in a statement.
In Q1’23, the group recorded a share of profit from associates totalling RM160,000, derived from Wasiyyah Shoppe, Sedania’s newest associate company following the completion of the group’s 20% stake acquisition in Wasiyyah Shoppe, announced in March this year.
The group’s sustainable healthcare division recorded stronger demand for its range of eco-friendly healthcare products across key international markets in Asia and Europe, as well as in the local Malaysian market. This culminated with sustainable healthcare revenue growing 26% to RM9.2 million in Q1’23 from RM7.3 million previously.
Fintech revenue soared 82% to RM2.1 million from RM1.1 million a year ago, driven primarily by significant increases in traffic from its Tawarruq and GoHalal platforms. The segment’s operating profit before tax more than doubled to RM1.0 million in Q1’23 from RM0.4 million in the preceding year.
Meanwhile, CEO Daniel Ruppert said that while its sustainable healthcare and fintech divisions are primed for growth going forward, it is making good progress in executing its sustainable energy projects and expect revenue recognition to gradually build up throughout the remaining three quarters of 2023.
“This would be driven by our healthy pipeline of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to be executed for existing clients, as well as optimism in obtaining new contracts from various industries such as manufacturing, commercial, hospitality and government organisation,” he said.
