KUALA LUMPUR (March 9): Berjaya Auto Bhd (BAuto) posted a net profit of RM46.52 million for the third quarter ended Jan 31, 2015 (3QFY15), up 52% from RM30.57 million a year ago.

The group has bumped up its dividend payment following the improved earnings. BAuto (fundamental: 2.35, valuation: 0.3) proposed a 3.35 sen dividend for the quarter, bringing its full year dividend to 8.6 sen compared with 1.75 sen declared last year.

Its quarterly revenue rose 13.3% to RM388.76 million from RM343.03 milliom in 3QFY14 on higher sales volume of Mazda vehicles, according to its filing to Bursa Malaysia this evening.

Earnings per share (EPS) grew to 5.74 sen against 3.88 sen a year earlier.

BAuto is principally engaged in the distribution and retailing of Mazda vehicles and provision of after-sales services. It also has an associate stake in a joint venture that assembles Mazda vehicles.

The group attributed the increase in net profit to higher revenue, better gross profit margin and lower operating expenses.

For the cumulative nine months (9MFY15), BAuto's net profit expanded by 90% to RM160.15 million, or 19.81 sen per share, from RM84.26 million or 11.35 sen per share last year.

Revenue grew 34.3% to RM1.41 billion from RM1.05 billion.

Going forward, BAuto expects intense competition to continue until the oversupply situation ceases and the effects of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on car prices become clearer to consumers.

"Notwithstanding these challenges, the Board is confident that the group's recent launch of the new Mazda 2 will make good contribution towards the results of the remaining quarter of this financial year," it said.

BAuto shares dropped two sen to RM3.64 today, for a market capitalisation of RM2.976 billion.

(Notes: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)