DeGem Berhad said its first-quarter normalized net income amounted to 4 Malaysian sen per share, an increase of 45.0% from 3 sen per share in the year-earlier period.

Normalized net income, which excludes unusual gains or losses on a pre- and after-tax basis, was 5.8 million ringgits, an increase of 43.5% from 4.1 million ringgits in the prior-year period.

The normalized profit margin climbed to 9.5% from 7.5% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue rose 14.1% year over year to 61.6 million ringgits from 54.0 million ringgits, and total operating expenses rose 9.5% year over year to 51.9 million ringgits from 47.4 million ringgits.

Reported net income increased 32.3% from the prior-year period to 6.1 million ringgits, or 5 sen per share, from 4.6 million ringgits, or 3 sen per share.

As of May 27, US$1 was equivalent to 3.65 ringgits.