KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 8): Proton Holdings Bhd may increase car prices from January 2016, due to the weaker ringgit, Bernama reported.

Bernama, quoting a statement from Proton chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah, reported that the price increase was needed as a weaker ringgit had led to costlier material imports for the Malaysian national car maker.

"The weaker ringgit affects the company’s operation costs and the entire eco-system chain from the vendors to us," Abdul Harith said.

He said Proton was evaluating its price structure and the increase quantum would depend on the car models.

DRB-Hicom Bhd had privatised Proton in 2012.

Today, DRB-Hicom shares fell one sen or 0.8% to RM1.22 at 4.44pm, for a market capitalisation of RM2.36 billion.

The stock saw 341,700 shares traded.

(Note: 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)