Excel
Technology International Holdings Limited
Achieved
Encouraging Results For The First Half Of 2000
|
Financial
Summary
|
| For
the Six months ended |
30th
June, 2000
HK$'000 |
30th
June, 1999
HK$'000 |
| Turnover |
70,870
|
36,805 |
| Profit/
(loss) attributable to shareholders |
6,260
|
(2,385)
|
| Earnings
per share - Basic - Fully diluted |
0.88
cents
0.88 cents |
(0.34
cents)
N/A |
(11 August, 2000, HONG KONG) - Excel Technology International Holdings Limited ('Excel' or the 'Company', together with its subsidiaries, the 'Group'; stock code: 8048) is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2000.
During the six months ended June 30, 2000, the Group achieved a turnover of approximately HK$ 70,870,000, representing about 92.6% increase as compared to the same period in the previous financial year. Profit attributable to shareholders amounted to HK$ 6,260,000 as compared to a loss of HK$ 2,385,000 over the same period in 1999. Basic earnings per share was HK$0.88 cents.
During the first half of 2000, the Group successfully regained profit from last year's loss. Strong growth in turnover was mainly attributable to increased sales in the Group's enterprise software, custom development projects and resale of hardware and software immediately after the Y2K freeze. Also, the Group had concluded a contract to develop the iTreasury project which would be a corporate treasury bidding system on the Internet with income to be derived from development fee equity earnings.
The Group's ASP associated company, i21 has signed up two broker consortia for offering their member brokers the iStock21 service, and has also signed up two major local banks for providing the iHR21 service to the banks' customers for human resource administration including payroll processing and mandatory provident fund contribution.
During the period under review, the Group has completed the development of its enterprise software in the e-commerce area. This new enterprise software, referred to as "eSAM", is an electronic supply chain management system tailored for the retail business.
The Group's geographic expansion plan is well on track. A wholly owned subsidiary in each of Singapore and Guangzhou of China had been set up to start business in these two countries.
Looking forward, the Directors maintain an optimistic view on enterprise software business in Hong Kong. With the passage of Y2K problem, the banking and financial sector has been actively looking for new application solutions and new computer system. The sales in enterprise software packages, custom development projects and resale of hardware and software are expected to have significant growth. Excel was short-listed for a major custom development project for a treasury system by a regulatory body in Hong Kong. The Directors are confident that with the Group's experience in the banking and financial sector, it will be able to secure the contract.
Talking about the geographical expansion plan of the Company, Ms Peggy Chan, CEO of the Group, 'With the establishment of offices in Singapore and Guangzhou and a software development centre in Shenzhen, we are now actively pursuing joint ventures and reseller appointments as an entry strategy for our geographical expansion.
'For our ASP business, i21 will launch iHR21 in early September 2000. We are now considering the fourth ASP service, a financial accounting system, which will be developed by the Group's development centre. Also, the management of i21 is actively devising the possibility in developing the ASP market in Taiwan. The initial feedback from the local financial institutions was positive. She concluded, 'Given the favourable market environment in Hong Kong and our years of experience and unique expertise in banking and finance sector, the Group is aiming at becoming the leading business application solutions provider in Hong Kong and in Asia Pacific regions by developing advanced enterprise software, the operation of ASP, IT consultancy and etc. Last but not least, we will strive to bring the best returns to our shareholders
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