ADVANCE Modules Group said yesterday that it has yet to receive an amount due from a Hong Kong buyer of about US$14.34 million - which was the subject of a qualification of its FY2005 financial statements by its auditors - but will still go ahead with a dividend payout it proposed in February.

Advance Modules had, when announcing its financial results on Feb 28, recommended a first and final dividend of 5.02 Malaysian sen a share - in line with its target to set aside at least 50 per cent of its FY2005 net profit as dividend payouts, as said in its initial public offer prospectus.

The semiconductor group, however, cautioned yesterday: 'Investors should not treat the dividends as an indication of the company's future dividend policy. The form, frequency and amount of future dividends will depend on the company's earnings, financial position, results of operations, capital needs, plans for expansion and other factors deemed appropriate.'

Advance Modules said that it issued a letter of demand for US$14.34 million on June 5 to its buyer, a Hong Kong-incorporated company, and is 'continuing to pursue collection' of the money.

The letter of credit which Advance Modules has yet to receive led to the group's auditor Deloitte & Touche qualifying the company FY2005 financial statements last month.

Earlier this month, Advance Modules said that it was switching external auditors. Deloitte has said that it would not seek re-appointment as the company's external auditor. Advance Modules has nominated First Trust for the job instead, and will seek shareholder approval for the appointment.

Advanced Modules was listed about nine months ago. It makes DRAM memory modules and flash memory products in Malaysia on a contract basis and sells its own proprietary brands of memory products.

Shares of Advanced Modules were last traded at 30 cents apiece, against its IPO price of 41 cents.   

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