Annual Report 2023 35 ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE At the start of FY2023, there was a prevailing sense of optimism as the world seemed to be making progress towards endemicity and the global economy was gaining momentum. However, this positive sentiment was short-lived due to the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as geopolitical turbulence, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and US-China trade tensions. These factors, combined with rising inflation, interest rates and recessionary concerns, have significantly escalated market uncertainties. Due to these challenges, the global economic recovery has been impacted, with the International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) estimated that global gross domestic product (“GDP”) growth moderating to 3.4% in 2022, compared to the 6.0% achieved in 2021. Conversely, economic conditions in Malaysia have been more encouraging with the reopening of the economy leading to a healthy pick-up in business activities. As a result, our GDP growth expanded firmly by 8.7% in 2022, in contrast to the 3.1% growth in 2021, according to the Ministry of Finance (“MOF”). This trend continued into the first quarter of 2023 where our country’s GDP grew by 5.6%. BUSINESS OVERVIEW The operating landscape in the financial year under review was highly demanding as we had to meet the surge in orders for passports and Malaysia National ID (“MyKad”) following the reopening of international borders. At the same time, Datasonic had to manoeuvre past the challenges such as supply chain disruptions, labour shortages and rising raw materials prices to name a few. Despite these challenges, we remained committed to our top priority: delivering the best public services to our customers. Thanks to our team’s meticulous planning and procurement, we were able to rise to the occasion and meet the increased demand with minimal disruption. Moving forward, we will continue to prioritize our customers’ needs and strive to provide the highest level of service possible. Meanwhile, we are pleased to have secured several new contracts in FY2023 despite the arduous environment by leveraging on our proven track record, strong technical expertise and capabilities supported by our in-house research and development (“R&D”) team. FY 2023 REVENUE: RM344.7 MILLION FY 2023 NET PROFIT: RM76.4 MILLION FY 2023 DIVIDEND PAYOUT: 74.2% OF FY2023 NET PROFIT +152.7% YoY +7.6 Folds
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDgzMzc=