Higher revenues and better profit margins helped precision tools maker Micro-Mechanics post a $1.4 million in net profit for its second quarter ended Dec 31 last year, up 38.5 per cent from a year ago.

Revenue grew 12.9 per cent to $10.5 million in the period, due to higher sales from the group's semiconductor tooling and custom machining & assembly divisions, the Singapore-listed group said on Saturday.

Earnings per share rose to 0.98 cents in the quarter from 0.71 cents in the same period the previous year.

Net asset value per share for the group stood at 27.54 cents as at Dec 31 last year, from 27.29 cents as at June 30 last year.

Micro-Mechanics will pay an interim dividend of 1 cent per share on Feb 18.

"Despite sluggish conditions in the high technology sector over the past few years, the group continued to invest steadily on new equipment and machinery to improve the capabilities and capacity of our worldwide manufacturing operations," said the group's chief executive Chris Borch.

"Coupled with our continuous efforts and initiatives to enhance operational efficiency, these investments yielded encouraging results," he added.