Lively R&D could offset Venture's production weakness

Its R&D could sustain its elevated activities in the coming quarters.

Venture’s production weakness could get a lift from the firm’s reasonable research and development (R&D) projects, UOB Kay Hian (UOBKH) said.

“Given the cost-plus model, Venture has some degree of control that may help offset weakness on the production front,” the research firm said. “We expect R&D expenses to remain elevated in the coming quarters.”

Moreover, the firm’s slowing growth could be offset by its test and measurement/Med (T&M/Med) segment.

Also read: Philip Morris' low-profit warnings put heat on Venture

“The broad read across the financial results of firm’s clients is slowing growth, with some slipping into negative growth,” UOBKH noted. “Stronger growth from clients in the T&M/Med segment helps offset this slowdown although it remains difficult to believe they can drive H2 2018 earnings to outperform on a YoY basis.”

For the second quarter of 2018, Venture Corporation’s profits jumped 40.2% to $97.91m from $69.84m last year. However, revenue dipped 6% to $952.28m from $1.01b.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia