KUALA LUMPUR (April 15): Zhulian Corp Bhd posted a 27% fall in its net profit to RM12.55 million for its first quarter ended Feb 28, 2015 (1QFY15), from RM17.18 million in the previous year, which brought its earnings per share to 2.73 sen, from 3.73 sen.

Revenue for the quarter declined 17% to RM55.22 million, from RM66.16 million in the previous year, its filing to Bursa Malaysia showed today.

The group also declared a first interim single tier dividend of 1.5 sen per share for the year ending Nov 30, 2015, payable on May 27, 2015. This is half the 3 sen per share it had paid for the same period last year.

Zhulian (fundamental: 2.7; valuation: 1.4) attributed the fall in its earnings for the quarter to a “drop in local market demand”.

Going forward, Zhulian expects the market to remain challenging, but remains cautiously optimistic about its performance for FY15.

The group said it is taking prudent measures in evaluating various initiatives and opportunities to attract and retain distributors, while improving its research and development efforts in developing new products.

“Furthermore, the group will also continue to explore opportunities of tapping into new market segments, through the introduction of new products and venturing into new business segments,” said Zhulian.

Zhulian closed unchanged at RM2.05 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM943 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)