DESIGN and build engineering company Inter-Roller Engineering reported a 32 per cent jump in interim net profit to $4.3 million from $3.2 million a year ago, thanks to an increase in sales and improved gross margins.

The Sesdaq-listed company said profit rose on the back of a 21 per cent jump in sales for the first half to $30.7 million.

Against the previous three months, Inter-Roller's second-quarter profit of $2.7 million was a 71 per cent hike from its first-quarter net earnings of $1.6 million. However, profit rose only one per cent from the $2.6 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Earnings per share for the half year was 5.65 cents compared with 4.53 cents a year ago.

Going forward, Inter-Roller expects its full-year profit to exceed last year's and has a robust order book for the second half of the year. As at end-June 2004, its outstanding orders were $91 million.

Inter-Roller's customers span many regions including the Middle East, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia and Asia.

In view of its solid first-half performance, the company declared an interim dividend of 2 cents per share.

《The Business Times》