9-Month Revenue and Net Profit at HK$914 Million and HK$92.4 Million — Continue to Pursue Regional Expansion with Focus in Greater China

News Release – March 18, 2010

(Hong Kong, 18 March 2010) – Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL” or “the Group”) (stock code: 771), a leading IT services provider in Hong Kong, announced its FY10 third quarterly results for the nine months ended 31 December 2009. The Group’s revenue from the continuing operations for the first nine months of FY10 was HK$914.0 million, decreased by HK$78.6 million or 7.9% compared to the same period last year, excluding the discontinued operations which arose from the disposal of the Global Managed Service Business (“GMS business”) in August 2009. Net profit for the review period amounted to HK$92.4 million, including the post-tax gain on disposal from the GMS business of HK$69.1 million, which is HK$61.4 million higher than the corresponding period in FY09. Basic earnings per share for the nine months under review were HK 30.17 cents (FY09 Q3: HK 10.42 cents).

For the three months ended 31 December 2009, the Group’s profit before taxation from continuing operations was HK$11.8 million, higher by 90.9% compared to the same period last year. Profit before taxation from continuing operations for the nine months of FY10 amounted to HK$24.9 million, down 10.2% compared to the corresponding period last year. The drop was mainly due to the decrease in product sales earlier on. However, the Group was able to reduce its cost in the third quarter of FY10.

The Group maintained a healthy balance sheet with net cash of approximately HK$168.9 million as at 31 December 2009. The Group’s order book carried a total value of approximately HK$569.7 million. No debt was recorded during the review period and the working capital ratio was 1.83:1.

Mr. Lai Yam Ting, CEO of Automated Systems Holdings Limited, said, “We are glad to see our business in Hong Kong has continued to maintain a stable performance while business in other regions are performing satisfactorily in step with a recovering economy. We continued to secure sizable contracts from both public and commercial sectors. As economic growth returns, we are confident of bringing in solid revenues from all of our businesses.”

Product sales and service revenue from continuing operations of the Group for the first nine months of FY10 were HK$543.8 million and HK$370.2 million, lower by 11.2% and 2.6% against the corresponding period in FY09 respectively, contributing 59.5% and 40.5% to the total revenue from continuing operations respectively. Commercial and public sector sales during the first nine months of FY10 accounted for 47.1% and 52.9% respectively to the revenue from continuing operations, against 53.8% and 46.2% in the same period in FY09. The drop in revenue was mainly attributed to the decrease in product sales in the commercial sector.

In the past nine months, the Group continued to receive significant contribution from the IT infrastructure business in both the commercial and public sectors. The two most significant contracts in this segment included an IT infrastructure contract worth more than HK$10 million and a security infrastructure project with a value of more than HK$5 million awarded by a leading international bank for its business expansion. In addition, the Group continued to secure sizable contracts from solution and services businesses which these businesses remained positive.

In December 2009, Automated Systems (HK) Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of ASL, continued its success to be awarded with two Standing Offer Agreements from a government department, brining opportunities for the Group to receive more orders from the government in the subsequent quarters.

For overseas business, the Group recorded revenue of HK$105.9 million in the first nine months of FY10 which accounted for 11.6% of the Group’s total revenue. During the review period, the Group was awarded a contract from Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd. for the provision of Baccarat Score Board System, reflecting that regional business opportunities are rising as the Group is free to expand in both China and Asian markets after the Territorial Termination Agreement and the Business Referral Termination Agreement came into effect in July 2009.

To further develop the cross-territories business, the Group opened its Shenzhen office in December 2009, to cater for the increasing opportunities in the Pearl River Delta Region. In addition to the current offices in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the Group is considering to set up other five customer service centers, including Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shenyang and Zhuhai within this year. The customer service centers are intended to provide better support to the local and cross territories customers and expand the service coverage across the Greater China region.

In addition, with the growing number of Hong Kong-based and overseas banks and financial firms having set up offices in the PRC or planning to enter the mainland market, the Group sees opportunities in capturing IT demand of the financial services and insurance (“FSI”) sector in the PRC. A sales team was therefore expanded in January 2010 tailored to target this potentially lucrative market and serve the regional development needs of the FSI sector.

Furthermore, the Group plans to expand the Taiwan operations in Taipei and Taichung as new opportunities are expected to arise from the signed cross-strait financial supervisory cooperation memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) (兩岸金融監理合作瞭解備忘錄) and the proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (“ECFA”) as the Group foresees more Taiwan companies will be attracted to enter into China and vice versa.

Aiming at providing the best services to customers, the Group will continue to tighten the business relationship with leading technology vendors, including expansion of territorial coverage on vendors’ products and related services covering the whole Greater China region. With the support from Beijing Teamsun Technology Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Teamsun”), its ultimate controlling shareholder, the Group has secured an over a million project in Shanghai with Beijing Teamsun in October 2009. Together with the enhancement of the Group’s service capability in the Greater China region, its expanding presence in the PRC and its base in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, ASL is able to provide better and prompt IT services to existing and new clients across the Greater China region with its comprehensive one-stop IT services.

Mr. Lai concluded, “Beijing Teamsun has a strong presence in the PRC with a vast support network, huge business coverage, technical expertise and a well-developed vendor network. By creating more synergy with them while maintaining an effective cost structure, we are confident to achieve regional growth on solid foundations. Our strategic aim is to become an IT leader in the Greater China region.”

Appendix: Major contracts and tenders secured by ASL FY10 3Q:

 
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