PETALING JAYA: CTOS Digital Bhd has introduced new digital solutions to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to expand their operations and overcome market uncertainty.
CTOS commercial general manager Ivan Chan stated that for the past 25 years, CTOS had been using the same system to cater to different industries, business approach, nature of business as well as business requirements.
With that, CTOS has introduced a new system called CTOS Credit Manager Light which is a simplified version of the previous system for its subscribers to perform core functions with ease.
Among the core functions that can be accessible for SMEs are buy and report, add and view monitoring, as well as view eTR (e-Trade References).
Chan further explained how reports are the first step in evaluating consumers, how monitoring allows businesses to keep track of their customers from time to time and how the supported documents allow transparency of trade references for businesses within the new system.
“This system can come up with a summary of all your usage from day one until now – from knowing the number of reports have been purchased, stored in the user and how much has been collected,” he added.
Chan highlighted that this change has been made to cater to the needs of customers in line with todays’ market conditions.
He added that CTOS’ newly introduced solutions allows businesses to lower credit risk and improve operational efficiency at a much lower rate.
According to the Statistics Department, 97.4% of business establishments in Malaysia are micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), in which 37.4% contribute to the countries’ gross domestic product; 11.7% have contribution to export and 47.8% have contributed to employment .
SME Corp Malaysia senior director of programme coordination division Czarif Chai Abdullah said five focus areas have been identified as a key enabler for future growth of SMEs and MSMEs.
This includes value chain in high impact industries, internationalisation of SMEs, microenterprises and inclusive groups, digitalisation and automation of MSMEs, as well as recalibrating the central coordinating agency role of SME Corp.
On another note, CTOS data and analytics general manager Tufan Sezgin Isik explained the challenges in exports was mainly due to inadequate information on the targeted market, while cash flow problems were an issue for the domestic businesses.
He explained the steps to improve an SMEs CTOS score is by paying bills on time, keeping credit utilisation low, managing outstanding debt, monitor credit reports, use credit responsibly and build a longer credit history.
CTOS posted a net profit of RM16.6mil in its first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1Q23), up 33% from RM12.8mil in 1Q22, while 1Q23 revenue rose 40% to RM59.6mil from RM42.7mil in 1Q22.
Maybank Investment Bank Research said the 1Q23 results were below its expectations due largely to higher-than-expected tax rate, which masked the strong underlying business performance.
RHB Research, on the other hand, considered CTOS’ results as within its expectations, noting the company was on track for another record year in FY23, buoyed by better performance across all its business segments.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2023/04/19/new-ctos-system-to-help-smes-enhance-ops