KUMPULAN POWERNET EYES EAST EUROPE & BANGLADESH MARKETS

SHAH ALAM, June 29 (Bernama) -- Manufacturer of fabrics for lingeries,
Kumpulan Powernet Bhd, which is expanding its product range to technical
fabrics, is considering entering new markets in East Europe and Bangladesh.

Executive Director (Finance) Loo Pak Soon said the company had identified
potential buyers in Turkey, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh to source for technical
fabrics.

"Technical fabrics are used to make household products such as blinds. The
move to diversify its products was due to falling demand for fabrics for
lingeries, particularly in Europe.

"We've started the ground work and sent samples (of products) to our
potential customers. We hope to seal deals with them by the third quarter of
this year," he said after the company's annual general meeting here Wednesday.

Loo said the company would try its best to register profit for its current
financial year ending Dec 31, 2011.

"We'll try to make it profitable, but that depends on the market
situation...a lot of external factors are not favourable," he said.

Loo said the company did not perform well in the first quarter of the
current financial year due to falling demand for its products.

"We hope to do well in the next three quarters. We expect the second quarter
to be better than the first quarter as we anticipate more buying activities as
customers are preparing for spring and winter seasons," he said.

Loo said raw material supply has not been good currently and prices have
spiralled by about 40 per cent from last year.

For its 2010 financial year, Kumpulan Powernet posted a nett loss of
RM198,000 (US$66,000) compared to a nett profit of RM84,000 (US$28,000) for the
previous year.

The company turned in a nett loss of RM1.44 million (US$480,000) for its
first quarter ended March 31, 2011 compared to a net loss of RM376,000
(US$125,333) for its previous corresponding period.
-- BERNAMA