PETALING JAYA: Bermaz Auto Bhd’s (BAuto) net profit for its third quarter ended Jan 31, 2021 increased 21.8% to RM33.08 million from RM27.15 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, largely due to the higher profit contribution from the domestic operations, which was mainly from higher unit sales.
It reported a 27.9% increase in revenue to RM597.98 million in the current quarter under review as compared to the revenue of RM467.46 million registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The improvement in sales volume for the domestic operations was mainly attributed to the positive impact from the Short-Term Recovery Plan (Penjana) economic stimulus package introduced by the government in June 2020 which provides 100% sales tax exemption on CKD vehicles and 50% sales tax exemption on CBU vehicles from June 15, 2020 to Dec 31, 2020.
“The market also reacted positively to the group’s aggressive promotional campaign with free six years of warranty and six years of free maintenance to boost sales. The sales volume in the Philippines continued to be negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” the group said in its Bursa filing.
For the nine-month period, the group’s net profit, however, dropped 31.6% to RM67.12 million from the RM98.05 million registered in the previous year’s corresponding period, largely due to lower profit contribution from both the domestic and the Philippines operations as well as lower share of profit contribution from Mazda Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MMSB).
The profit contribution from the domestic operations was lower in spite of higher unit sales, mainly attributed to a lower gross profit margin arising from the change in sales mix and more aggressive promotional activities. The lower contribution from the Philippines operations was attributed to lower unit sales as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The lower share of profit contribution from MMSB was due to the significant drop in unit sales from both the domestic and export markets during the movement control order (MCO) and CMCO period. The group has also accounted for the expense relating to the group’s employees’ share scheme of about RM2.2 million in the period under review as compared to RM3.2 million in the preceding year’s corresponding period.
The group registered a higher revenue of RM1.65 billion as compared to RM1.46 billion previously, mainly attributed to the improved sales volume in the second and third quarter, as a result of the positive impact from the introduction of the economic stimulus package under Penjana as well as the aggressive promotional campaign introduced by the group.
The board has approved and declared a third interim dividend of 1.5 sen per share in respect of the financial year ending April 30, 2021 to be payable on May 6, 2021. The entitlement date has been fixed on April 19, 2021. This will bring the total dividend declared for the financial period ended Jan 31, 2021 to be 3.25 sen per share.
Looking ahead, BAuto expects the domestic market to recover from the impact of MCO 2.0 by the first half of the year, particularly after the scheduled nationwide coronavirus vaccination programme.
“In the Philippines, the group is still cautious and expects the automotive sector to remain challenging in 2021. The launching of new and/or new facelift Mazda models are still very much dependent on market sentiments and economic conditions.”
As such, the directors anticipate the performance of the group for the remaining quarter ending April 30, 2021 to remain challenging.
Source: The Sun Daily
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