EXCEL FORCE MSC BERHAD Annual Report 2019

EXCEL FORCE MSC BERHAD - ANNUAL REPORT 2019 8 The Group achieved revenue of RM23 million in 2019 and profit after tax of RM6.4 million. We were resilient amidst market uncertainties due to an apparent US-China trade war. Our strong business fundamentals and prudent spending helped pull us through the challenging year. Malaysian stock market continued to under-perform compared to bourses in Asean and globally. Bursa Malaysia’s Average Daily Value (ADV) decreased by 19.3% compared to 2018, which impacted the business performance of stockbrokers. The broking industry participants faced intense competition and cost pressure, resulting in cautious IT spending to protect profit margin. The Group continues to invest in research and development to improve and update our service offering. This is done collaboratively with customers to ensure our product development pipeline is relevant and improves speed to market. We leverage on our strong working relationships with customers, deep domain knowledge and technological capabilities to help customers solve problems and anticipate emerging trends. The year 2020 started with optimism on US-China signing its first trade deal. But Covid-19 pandemic has now cast its long shadow over the global economy. The collapse of oil price further fueled this combustible situation. Economists are warning of a prolonged global recession and recovery is dependent on when and how global community gets the pandemic under control. Businesses experienced such widespread downturn within such a short time. We are equally impacted. However, the Group is confident that we have sufficient resources and strong leadership to steer EForce through this turbulence time and emerge stronger. In appreciation of our shareholders’ continued support, the Board had declared and paid total dividend of RM6 million, an equivalent to 95% of the Group’s net profit of the year. The Board wishes to express its appreciation to our valued customers, suppliers, business partners, financiers, government agencies and regulatory authorities for their continued support and confidence in EForce. Thank you and well done to our management and staff for their contribution to the Group’s performance. Lastly, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Mr. Aaron Sim Kwee Lein for his service as our Audit Committee Chairman until his untimely demise in July 2019, and to Mr. Ng Kim Huat who had retired as a director in last AGM. I would also like to welcome our new independent directors, Datuk Mat Noor Bin Nawi and Puan Mohaini Binti Mohd Yusof, who joined the Group in FYE 2019. Thank you to all fellow Board members for their commitment, guidance and invaluable advice to enable the Board to properly discharge their fiduciary duties to the best of their ability. DATO’ DR NORRAESAH BINTI HAJI MOHAMAD Executive Chairman CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT On behalf of the Board of Directors, it is my pleasure to present the Annual Report of Excel Force MSC Berhad (“EForce” or “the Group”) for the financial year ended 31 December 2019 (“FYE 2019”).