AMWAY SALES UP 3% TO RM663.9 MILLION

Leading multinational company, Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad (Amway) has posted a sales revenue of RM663.9 million for its 12-month financial year ended 31 December 2009, an increase of about 3.0% compared to RM645.5 million in the previous financial year.

The growth in sales revenue was mainly attributed to successful sales and marketing programmes implemented in 2009, which included six new product introductions. Said Amway Executive Director, Paul Yee: “Amway has demonstrated resilience in navigating the economic downturn and turned in another year of commendable growth in sales revenue.”

The company’s profit before tax decreased by 23.5% from RM129.2 million in 2008 to RM98.9 million last year. Profit after tax declined 23.7% from RM95.1 million the previous year to RM72.5 million in 2009. The decline in profitability was mainly due to the unfavourable exchange rate of the Ringgit against the US Dollar, lower interest income and investment in consumer access driven strategies.

Last year, Amway had opened four more Amway Shops as part of its ongoing consumer access strategy, completed the construction of its RM100 million corporate headquarters in Petaling Jaya, in addition to embarking on a corporate branding campaign over print and broadcast media to rejuvenate the Amway brand and enhance awareness for the Amway business opportunity.

According to Yee: “These were necessary initiatives to support the future growth of the business and defend our market share. The company plans to continue with the opening of three more Shops in new locations with growth potential and the extension of the Amway branding campaign this year, both of which will further support the retailing efforts of our 208,000 strong Core Distributor Force.“

With the continuation of these key initiatives, Amway is strengthening its position and will be better poised to take advantage of opportunities when the economy recovers,” concluded Yee.

In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad today, Amway’s Board of Directors had opined that: “The Malaysian economy is projected to recover in 2010 in tandem with global economic scenario. With this, the Board expects the Group to achieve single digit growth in sales revenue in the new financial year.”

Amway declared a fourth interim single tier dividend of 7.0 sen net per share, based on the existing share capital of 164,385,645 ordinary shares of RM1.00 each. Taken together with the interim and special dividends declared earlier, the total dividend for the financial year ended 31 December 2009 amounts to 48 sen net per share. The total net dividend payout of RM78.9 million will translate into a net yield of 6.7%.