Dataprep hopes to end year with a profit

September 30, 2004

INFORMATION technology company Dataprep Holdings Bhd is hoping to close its books for the year ending March 2005 with a profit.

"For the first eight months of this year, we're already operating profitably. We're looking at 20 to 25 per cent growth from last year's sales of RM85.55 million," chief executive officer and executive director Chew Liong Kim said.

The company has been reporting net losses of RM39.28 million for the year ended March 2004 and RM30.84 million the year before.

"The loss was aggravated by about 27 per cent and this was due to a lot of write-offs and bad debts of research and development projects that were not supported by customer demand.

"Those were one-off losses ... they are not recurring and they won't be seen in this year's accounts. The company has also reduced headcounts and consolidated office space to save costs. These are some measures that will help the company achieve its financial targets," Chew said.

Dataprep has a backlog project value of RM50 million where RM27 million is billable before March 30 2005.

"On top of that, we are confident of signing up and billing for projects worth another RM30 million within the next half of the year," he said.

Chew was speaking to reporters after the company's annual general meeting in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

"To date, Malaysian Debt Ventures Bhd has given us credit facility of RM23 million payable over 5 years. So far, we have paid back RM7 million," he said.

NST Business