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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 1, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: DRB-Hicom Bhd reported a net profit of RM73.02 million for its third quarter of financial year 2019 (3QFY19) ended Dec 31, 2018 against a net loss of RM70.03 million a year ago, on the back of improved revenue from better Proton sales.

In the quarter under review, revenue rose 9.3% to RM3.17 billion versus RM2.9 billion a year ago, due to higher automotive sales and higher contribution from its banking and waste management businesses, but partially offset by lower contribution from the property sector, the group said in a bourse filing.

For the cumulative nine months ended Dec 31, 2018 (9MFY19), DRB-Hicom posted a net loss of RM5 million against a net profit of RM489.77 million a year earlier, because of the disposal of the Lotus marque in September 2017.

Cumulative revenue slipped 2.82% to RM9.01 billion versus RM9.27 billion last year.

In 3QFY19, the automotive segment saw a 22% rise in revenue due to higher automotive sales plus a higher percentage of completion of AV 8x8 project (military) vehicles by DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd.

For 9MFY19, the automotive segment saw revenue come in lower against the same period a year ago, at RM5.28 billion versus 5.3 billion in 9MFY18.

The group’s services segment also posted a higher revenue of RM3.37 billion compared with RM3.27 billion before, on the back of improved performance at the banking and waste management businesses.

Property proved to be the laggard, posting RM365 million revenue compared with RM692 million in 9MFY18.

In a media statement, DRB-Hicom said it expects operating results for FY19 ending March 31, 2019 to be an improvement over the previous year excluding exceptional items.

It said since its debut on Dec 12, 2018, Proton has to date delivered over 7,000 units of X70 from approximately 18,000 bookings.

“At the sales networks, adoption of global standards has ensured a more customer-oriented delivery process.” DRB-Hicom fell five sen or 2.63% to RM1.85, valuing the company at RM3.58 billion.

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