KCE Falls 8% as Gross Profit Margin Plunges to 22.8% in 2Q, Raising Higher Cost Concerns

The share price of KCE Electronics Public Company Limited (SET: KCE) fell as much as 8.40% after the opening bell on Wednesday after the company reported a slight decline in its 2Q22 results yesterday.

 

KCE announced that the three month period ended June 30, 2022, sales and net profit were THB4,667.4 million and THB571.9 million, respectively, compared to THB3,536.1 million and THB617.8 million in the second quarter of 2021.

The net profit in 2Q22 presented a decrease compared to both Q-o-Q and Y-o-Y, mainly due to a reduction of FX gain and a non-operating loss from the recognition of fair value on a financial investment in the period. This resulted in basic earnings per share of THB0.48 in 2Q22.

Meanwhile, gross profit margin was at 22.8 %, decreasing from 29% of the same period last year due to the special price adjustment to recover the material prices increasing in 2Q21.

The company noted that the impact on gross margin in this year mainly due to the high raw material cost from the continued increase in price of Copper which led to higher cost of goods sold by 2.4% Yo-Y, together with prices increasing of other supplies and chemical. The change in foreign currency exchange rates also reflected to higher cost of imported material and supply. Moreover, the fixed overhead cost, electricity charge, adjusted the higher rate in this period.