Dr. Eakapong Tungsrisanguan, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of JWD InfoLogistics Public Company Limited (JWD), a leading 'Total Logistics Solutions Provider', revealed the satisfactory growth levels achieved for 4Q2017, with a total revenue of THB 1,144.3m, a 63% YoY rise from THB 571.7m and a slight QoQ rise, as well as a net profit of THB 465.8m, a 996% YoY rise from THB 42.5m and better than the previous quarter's figure, thanks to healthy growths and effective cost control in the core segments, namely moving service, cold storage and domestic and cross-border cargo transport, which recorded revenue increases by 42%, 37.5% and 22.8%, respectively. The cold storage segment has almost fully recovered from the impacts experienced from the recent illegal, unreported and unregulated (or IUU) fishing issues.
The sound growths contributed to JWD's record-high net profit for FY2017 at THB 612.1m, up from the THB 8.9m loss recorded last year due to provision for contingent liabilities and two extraordinary items, and a total revenue of THB 2.963bn, a 32% YoY increase from THB 2.251bn, higher than JWD's 7% growth target.
The exponential growth in net profit in FY2017 was contributed mainly by two factors: (i) recognition of extraordinary income from sale of assets to AIM Industrial Growth Freehold and Leasehold Real Estate Investment Trust, or AIMIRT (approx. THB 415.1m); and (ii) strong growths in almost all segments (approx. THB 197.0m, after extraordinary items). The cold storage segment recorded a 20.6% jump in revenue as the demand for cold storage space quickly recovered after being temporarily affected by Thailand's IUU fishing issues, since JWD was the first cold storage firm in Mahachai area to obtain an MSC Certificate. The domestic and cross-border cargo transport segment grew 20.1% as a result of superb performances in the cross-border transport and JWD Express subsegments. The automotive storage and management segment grew 13.2% after winning orders from both new and existing customers and enjoying increasingly more revenue from the investment project managed jointly with Siam Motors Industries. The hazardous cargo warehousing segment grew 8.7% as the quantity of containers at Laem Chabang Port rose. The document and data storage and moving service segments also recorded decent growths.
JWD's board responded by resolving on 22 Feb to declare payment of THB 0.10 dividend per share from the company's Q3 results to the shareholders, with an XD date falling on 4 May, a book-closing date on 7 May and a payment date on 25 May. Given the interim dividend already declared for the nine-month results of FY2017 (Jan-Sep'17) on 9 Feb at THB 0.15 per share, the dividends declared in FY2017 totaled THB 0.25 per share.
Mr. Charvanin Bunditkitsada, JWD's Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), noted that JWD believes in its ability to achieve continued growths in FY2018, after experiencing a strong recovery in the previous year, and expects that its 1Q2018 results will be positively influenced by constant requests for cold storage space, as indicated by the currently near-full occupancy ratio at the Mahachai plant in Samut Sakhon and by the current occupancy ratio of approx. 50% of the newly built 2,800sq m section of the Suwinthawong plant (launched in late last year). With a forecasted recovery in the automotive industry this year, the company also expects that an increased order volume will also be seen in the automotive storage and management segment, added he.
In the hazardous cargo warehousing segment, the quantity of containers at Laem Chabang Port is projected to grow further, and the installation of additional rackings for the JWD Chemical Supply Chain (JCS) facility to increase the currently fully-occupied capacity by more than 150% will likely be completed in 1Q2018. JWD will also benefit from the recent increase in overseas investment.
"We are confident that we will successfully produce continued growths through expansion of our customer base and investments in the existing core segments, e.g. expansion of the cold storage facility, increase of the truck fleet to cater to rising order volume, investment for domestic and overseas expansions (including acquisition of a logistics business in the Asean region). We will also sell more assets to AIMRT to finance the expansions and strengthen our financial position", said he.