KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): Hard disk drive (HDD) maker JCY International Bhd suffered another net loss for its third quarter ended June 30, 2021 (3QFY21), marking its third consecutive quarterly loss in FY21.

In a bourse filing, it reported a net loss of RM18.42 million versus a net profit of RM3.14 million a year ago.

It blamed the net loss in 3QFY21 on the provision of RM17 million for costs in fulfilling the requirements of the responsible business alliance (RBA) code of conduct and exchange losses, as opposed to exchange gains a year ago, despite the turnaround of gross profit in the quarter under review.

Quarterly revenue, however, increased by 19.43% to RM271.16 million in 3QFY21 from RM227.04 million a year ago, due mainly to higher volume of shipments and a better mix of products.

On a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis, JCY International saw its net loss narrow from RM22.55 million in 2QFY21 as its revenue expanded 9.74% against RM247.08 million in 2QFY21.

The lacklustre results caused JCY International to post a cumulative net loss of RM58.7 million for the nine-month period ended June 30, 2021 (9MFY21), versus a net profit of RM11.49 million in 9MFY20.

Cumulative revenue for 9MFY21, however, rose 2.68% to RM795.08 million from RM774.37 million a year before.

JCY International said the HDD industry has experienced a rebound in demand in the past several quarters.

"In the second quarter of 2021, approximately 67.6 million units were shipped, up from 64.2 million units in the previous quarter, and from 58.8 million units in the prior-year quarter. In terms of capacity, shipped capacity totalled approximately 351 exabytes, up 22% q-o-q and 45% year-on-year (y-o-y).

"Likewise, HDD industry revenue grew to approximately US$6 billion in 2Q2021, up 18% q-o-q and more than 20% y-o-y," it noted.

On prospects, the group said it is beginning to realise the benefits of its recent strategic initiatives aimed at realigning and transforming its customer base and product mix.

"Despite the challenging operating environment, exacerbated further by the recent spike in the number of Covid-19 cases both in Malaysia and Thailand, we have extensively reviewed and successfully implemented enhanced standard operating procedures, increasing our operating capacity and safeguarding the welfare of our employees during this challenging period," it added.

Noting that Covid-19 continues to negatively impact business worldwide, it said flexibility and adaptability are key to facing the challenges brought by the pandemic. Hence, the group will continue to implement its diversification strategy to face future challenges.

JCY shares closed up 0.5 sen or 1.56% to 32.5 sen, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM691 million.