Notion: Encouraging Announcement

Further to the announcements made on 11 October 2011 and 23 November 2011, the Board of Directors of the Company wishes to update on the impact to the Group arising from the floods on the operations of Notion Thailand Co. Ltd (“Notion Thailand”) as follows:-
 

1) Following the dry out by end November 2011, Notion Thailand’s factory located in Ayutthaya had to be cleaned out and all affected stock and inventory were recovered. Work-in-Progress and finished goods were sent back to the Group’s factory located in Klang for cleaning and recovery.
 

2) Electrical, telecommunication and water supply were fully restored soon after the drying out.
 

3) The process of insurance claim is still on-going and only expected to be completed by March 2012.
 

4) Notion Thailand will now recommence operations of anodising and sub-assembly of lens before June 2012 but all support for the Single-lens Reflex (“SLR”) camera segment will be from the main Klang factory. As a result, the financial impact of the loss of revenue to the Group arising from our affected Thai factory will be minimal as Notion Thailand contributed less than 3% to the Group’s revenue.
 

5) The Group’s business outlook has turned for the better with a strong recovery in January 2012 sales to much higher than pre-flood level. The trend is expected to be upwards for the remainder of the financial year ending 30 September 2012 (“FY2012”) and beyond as the Hard Disk Drive (“HDD”) segment is expected to be in short supply until mid 2013 due to backlog of orders. The average selling price of HDD is expected to remain above pre-flood level for multi-quarters ahead.
 

6) One of our major HDD customers is reportedly estimating full pre-flood operations by September quarter 2012.
 

7) With the entrance of 3 new Japanese major customers in the HDD segment and the ramp up in HDD component sales, we expect FY2012’s revenue to grow in strong double digit over FY2011. The sustainability of this new business is expected to be good as the customers’ commitment is assumed to be long term.
 

8) Meanwhile we expect robust camera orders in February 2012 onwards as the camera segment is expected to be on route to full pre-flood operations by March 2012 while the Auto/Industrial segment remains stable.
 

The above is internal management’s estimation and is not a forecast or projection and has not been reviewed by our external auditors.
 

This announcement is dated 10 February 2012.

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From this announcement, though the upcoming financial result of 2012Q1 remain tricky, investors can expect a far better result in Q2 contributed by higher revenue, higher margin and insurance compensation. 

With its strong & honest management team, I think Notion Vtec is worth to consider in mid to long term investment, even though the future of HDD is still a concern.