Rex Industry Bhd. said its first-quarter normalized net income amounted to 670,630 ringgits, a decline of 17.7% from 815,000 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 dropped to 1.6% from 2.4% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue climbed 24.2% year over year to 41.6 million ringgits from 33.5 million ringgits, and total operating expenses rose 26.0% from the prior-year period to 40.4 million ringgits from 32.0 million ringgits.

Reported net income decreased 27.6% on an annual basis to 685,000 ringgits, or 0 sen per share, from 946,000 ringgits, or 0 sen per share.

As of May 15, US$1 was equivalent to 3.56 ringgits.