Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 13, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Bermaz Auto Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2018 (4QFY18) more than doubled to RM57.19 million from RM22.21 million in the previous year, thanks to higher domestic sales of its well-received Mazda CX-5 and CX-9 models that were launched in the last quarter of 2017.

This brought earnings per share for 4QFY18 to 4.93 sen from 1.93 sen per share in 4QFY17; revenue grew 61% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM570.59 million from RM354.03 million.

The group has recommended a fourth interim dividend of 2.3 sen per share and a special dividend of 2.7 sen per share, totalling a payout of five sen per share, which will be payable on July 26.

In a statement yesterday, the group said its pre-tax profit grew 126% y-o-y to RM73.7 million, largely due to higher revenue recorded by its domestic operations, improvement in gross profit margin as a result of the strengthening of the ringgit against the Japanese yen, and a higher share of profit contribution from its associate company Mazda Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MMSB).

“The higher share of profit contribution from MMSB was mainly due to an increase in production volume for the new CX-5 model to cater for both the domestic and export markets,” it said.

However, this was partly offset by a lower profit contribution from the Philippine operations as its gross profit margin was impacted by the weakening of the Philippine peso against the yen.

For its full FY18, net profit rose 19% y-o-y to RM140.07 million from RM117.65 million, while revenue rose 20% y-o-y to RM1.99 billion from RM1.66 billion.

On prospects, the group said the profitability of its associate MMSB is expected to increase with a rise in car volume to be exported to the Asean region, coupled with high demand in the domestic market.

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