Pentamaster’s order book expands to RM450mil

PETALING JAYA: Despite weaker financial results in its recent third quarter of financial year 2025 (3Q25), Pentamaster Corp Bhd continues to record a strong order book.

Its outstanding order book had expanded by almost 30% from the previous quarter to RM450mil, according to Phillip Research.

This showed stronger demand across all segments and it pointed to an eventual earnings recovery in the coming quarters, it said.

The company’s 3Q25 revenue fell 1% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM148mil on softer performance in both the Automated Test Equipment (ATE) and Factory Automation Solutions (FAS) segments as demand slowed from the electro-optical, semiconductor, and automotive sectors.

Although the decline was partly offset by stronger contributions from the consumer and industrial segments, its 3Q25 core net profit came in at RM15.8m which was down 22% quarter-on-quarter and a 36% y-o-y fall, Phillip Research said.

Also, it noted its year-to-date (y-t-d) nine- month performance saw core net profit slipping 31% y-o-y to RM50mil on weaker contributions from the medical sector within the FAS segment which was mitigated by improved earnings from the ATE segment and supported by the semiconductor sector.

Phillip Research said results had missed its expectations which implies 65% of its previous full-year forecast, although it was broadly in line with consensus’ expectations at 70%.

“The variance from our previous forecast was mainly due to softer-than-expected earnings contribution from the ATE segment,” it said.

“We cut our 2025 forecast earnings per share by 5% after incorporating slower-than-expected project deliveries, but we keep our 2026 to 2027 forecast earnings forecast unchanged.”