Paragon Union Berhad said its normalized net income for the first quarter amounted to 1.1 million ringgits, an increase from 116,880 ringgits in the year-earlier period.

Normalized net income excludes unusual gains or losses on a pre- and after-tax basis.

The normalized profit margin rose to 7.2% from 0.7% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue decreased 11.1% on an annual basis to 15.7 million ringgits from 17.7 million ringgits, and total operating expenses fell 20.4% year over year to 13.7 million ringgits from 17.2 million ringgits.

Reported net income grew on an annual basis to 1.8 million ringgits, or 3 sen per share, from 199,000 ringgits, or 0 sen per share.

As of May 27, US$1 was equivalent to 4.08 ringgits.