KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 —DRB-Hicom Bhd registered pre-tax loss of RM146.28 million in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2015 compared with a pre-tax profit of RM96.47 million in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the quarter dropped RM3.33 billion compared with RM3.52 billion previously, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today. DRB-Hicom attributed the weaker financial results to stiff competition in the automotive retail market which required heavy year-end discounting and sales promotions to defend its market share.
As for the nine-month period, the group also recorded a pre-tax loss of RM76.93 million against a pre-tax profit of RM457.66 million previously, while revenue stood at RM9.54 billion compared with RM10.47 billion previously. The conglomerate said it would continue to focus on cost management and undertake initiatives to improve operational efficiencies and effectiveness to strengthen the group’s resilience in the current business environment. It will also intensify efforts to improve its automotive sector through the introduction of new models and seek to consolidate and strengthen its integrated logistics services business to tap into the growth of e-commerce transactions.
Going forward, the group expects logistics to be a new growth driver as it is well positioned to take advantage of its holistic logistics eco-system in light of the anticipated industry growth, it said. — Bernama
