Electronic manufacturing service (EMS) provider VS Industry Bhd earmarked around RM60 million for capital expenditure (capex) including maintenance capex for the new financial year (FY24), which it planned to optimise to navigate the challenging year ahead.
In a statement, its managing director Datuk SY Gan said for FY24, as part of cost-opmitisation for its capex, it planned to enhance the automation levels and upgrade its capabilities.
“Part of it will also be utilised to enhance the automation levels of our processes to lower our dependency on manual labour and reduce
labour cost.
“Separately, following the encouraging data of our solar photovoltaic (PV) system at our headquarters, I-Park @ Senai Airport City, Senai, Johor, we are expanding this solar PV system to other facilities as part of our commitment towards Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) as well as optimising our cost,” he said after the conclusion of the group’s 41st Annual General Meeting (AGM) today (Jan 5).
Gan said the group is also planning to strengthen its vertical integration capability and shared that the value chain enhancement project it embarked on previously has charted good progress.
“The group also has other value chain enhancement initiatives in the pipeline. On balance, we are confident to navigate through the headwinds by leveraging on our lean balance sheet with low net gearing and healthy cashflow to emerge stronger than before,” he said.
He added: “As we head into FY24, ongoing market ambiguities are expected to persist and operating conditions would remain challenging. In view of the situation, we continue to undertake a cautious approach as we navigate through the demanding environment.
“This is reflected in our capex strategy as we are channelling funds to optimise cost.”
On its dividend for FY23, VS Industry gave out total dividend per share amounted to 2.2 sen, representing a 47.4% payout based of FY23 earnings per share of 4.66 sen, exceeding the group’s dividend policy of a 40% payout of net profit.
