KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): Dagang NeXchange Bhd's (DNeX) financial performance for the second quarter (2Q) ended June 30, 2019, received a boost from the Road to Makkah project, an on-site facilitation and communications connectivity for pre-clearance of Malaysian and Indonesian pilgrims.

The information technology (IT) and energy group recorded a higher net profit of RM12.35 million compared with RM12.16 million a year earlier, while revenue soared 41 percent year-on-year to RM72.2 million.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, it said its IT segment showed a profit before tax (PBT) improvement of 40 percent (RM2.7 million) in the quarter under review.

This was mainly due to a RM2 million increase in PBT recorded by trade facilitation and e-commerce in line with the higher trade traffic volume and billing for the Road to Makkah project as well as a RM0.7 million incremental PBT from the system integration and consultancy business.

However, the group's total profit was dragged down by a RM2 million drop in the PBT of its energy segment.

In a media statement, DNeX executive deputy chairman Datuk Samsul Husin said its efforts to strengthen its revenue lines across both IT and e-services and energy divisions were yielding results.

He said the company was now focused on growing e-services via the Dagang Net Digital Platform initiative to provide end-to-end innovative services to help customers be more efficient in embracing big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence technology.

“In the energy segment, we have been growing the order book of our trading and services business, and are actively tendering for more projects including the downstream sector,” Samsul said.

The group, he added, would continue to pursue group-wide operational cost optimisation programme to drive improvements in operational efficiency and ensure earnings sustainability.