KUALA LUMPUR: Bermaz Auto Bhd’s (BAuto) net profit jumped 23.1% to RM40.71mil in the third quarter ended Jan 31, 2022 (3Q22) from RM33.01mil a year ago largely due to positive contribution from the Kia operations.
Its revenue for the quarter stood at RM623.13mil, up 4.2% from RM597.9mil a year prior.
BAuto said higher revenue was mainly due to the change in sales mix from the group’s Mazda, Peugeot and Kia operations.
The group has also accounted for the expense relating to the group’s employees’ share scheme of RM400,000 in the current quarter under review as compared to RM600,000 in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year.
The board has approved and declared a third interim dividend of 2.25 sen single-tier dividend per share in respect of the financial year ending April 30 (FY22) to be payable on May 5. The entitlement date has been fixed on April 15.
For the first nine months to Jan 31, BAuto posted a net profit of RM77.02mil, up 14.7% from RM67.11mil last year. Revenue, however, dipped 13.3% to RM1.43bil against RM1.45bil a year ago.
In a statement, BAuto said the group’s current quarter financial results have been encouraging due to, inter-alia, the current sales tax exemptions on vehicles, the easing of the movement control orders and the re-opening of the various economic sectors in the country, which helped to improve consumer confidence and increased traffic to showrooms to secure better sales.
“The unpredictable outbreak of the new Omicron variant globally and/or domestically such as the recent surge in the number of Covid-19 infections will certainly have an impact on the overall recovery of the country’s economy.
“Hence, the group is cautious and expects the automotive sector to remain challenging in 2022,” it said.
It added that the launches of new and/or new facelift models of the group’s existing marques - Mazda, Peugeot and Kia - are still dependent on the market sentiments and economic conditions then.
“Premised on the foregoing and that the current sales tax exemptions will continue till June 2022, the directors anticipate the performance of the group to remain encouraging for the final quarter of the financial year ending April 30,” BAuto said.
