The company said that it has seen a notable rise in book sales driven by strong demand for its products, since the introduction of the Madani vouchers on May 30, 2024.
PETALING JAYA: Sasbadi Holdings Bhd
is optimistic about its growth in the current financial year, thanks to the Madani book voucher programme.
The books and educational materials distributor revealed that it has seen a notable rise in book sales driven by strong demand for its products, since the introduction of the voucher on May 30, 2024.
These sales were achieved both through the group’s dedicated Sasbadi store on Book Capital (or Kota Buku, the digital platform facilitating book voucher redemptions) and through sales to booksellers who also operate on the said platform, revealed Sasbadi chairman Datuk Dr Amin Senin and group managing director Law King Hui in a joint message published in the group’s latest annual report.
“It is worth noting that book sales through these vouchers have gained much momentum post the fourth quarter of financial year ended Aug 31, 2024 (1Q24), supported by intensified marketing efforts from all stakeholders involved and consequently, we anticipate a favourable increase in book sales via these vouchers in 1Q25 and beyond,” they explained.
As such, they said: “For this financial year (FY25), we expect to see a notable uptick in top-line and bottom-line performance due to the Madani book voucher initiative,” they added.
Besides print publications, Amin and Law said Sasbadi remained steadfast in supporting the objectives of the Education Ministry’s (MoE) digital education policy (DEP).
“Since the launch of the DEP, the education sector has seen heightened interest in digital teaching and learning solutions, driven in part by the various initiatives being implemented by the MoE in relation to the DEP,” they said.
“In anticipation of the MoE’s plan to distribute electronic devices to teachers and students, our group is in active discussions with solutions integrators to deliver our curriculum compliant digital education solutions as part of the hardware’s bundled offerings.
Amin and Law stated the group’s aspiration to leverage its expertise in developing education-related software to meet the MoE’s requirements and support their efforts in implementing the DEP.
Further, they noted that the group’s acquisition of the intellectual property rights from Kohwai & Young Publications Sdn Bhd, which specialises in producing high-quality learning resources, would allow Sasbadi to tap into a huge collection of assets for the growth potential of its early childhood education segment by leveraging on its extensive sales channels and economies of scale.
They also expected the group’s strategic acquisition of a 60% stake in paper-based products manufacturer Edu Paper And Stationary Sdn Bhd to enable the group to expand into a new business segment to smoothen out its seasonality pattern.“Overall, FY25 presents numerous opportunities for our group to grow and expand,” Amin and Law said.
Sasbadi posted a net profit of RM2.15mil on revenue of RM89.8mil in FY24. This compared with a net profit of RM10.17mil on revenue of RM96.14mil in FY23. It declared a dividend payout of 0.75 sen per share for both years.
The group attributed its lower earnings in FY24 to lower revenue and higher provision of inventories write down.
It noted that the lower revenue was due to the sluggish retail segment and lower contribution from MoE contracts.
