SINGAPORE (May 7, 2:50 p.m. ET) — Injection molder and toolmaker Sunningdale Tech Ltd expects the business environment to continue to remain challenging for the rest of the year.

“Our customers in Europe are affected by the on-going debt crisis, slower global economic growth and volatility in foreign exchange rates present additional complexity,” the Singapore-based company said in its first quarter report.

“Pricing pressure from customers, coupled with rising raw material prices and significant labor costs increase in China continue to squeeze margins,” it said.

However, Sunningdale Tech recorded a 16.6 percent increase in quarterly sales, compared to the same period a year ago, to S$110.63 million (US$88.64 million). It also recorded 63.7 percent increase in the net profit to S$3.3 million (US$2.64 million).

Automotive business remains stable. “We continue to gain new bezel projects from existing customers to replace current projects that will come to end of life,” said the Singapore-listed company.

The initiative to expand into other automotive plastic parts was in progress, it said.

The company’s healthcare business continues to grow steadily, while mold fabrication remained stable with healthy backlogs carried forward from 2011 and also new orders received in the quarter, it said.