KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — DRB-Hicom Bhd posted a net profit of RM40.08 million for the second quarter ended September 30, 2019, reversing the net loss of RM11.42 million incurred a year ago thanks mainly to a much better contribution from subsidiary Proton Holdings Bhd.
“The performance of the automotive sector, particularly of national carmaker Proton, was clearly a boost for DRB-Hicom. The sector recorded revenue of RM2.42 billion for the three months to September 2019, rising almost half a billion ringgit against the same period in 2018,” it said in a statement today.
However, DRB-Hicom’s services and properties segments registered weaker revenue year-on-year.
“Revenue for the services sector was lower as Pos Malaysia’s operating landscape remains challenging, while at the properties sector, lower revenue was received from its construction projects which were at different stages of completion,” it explained.
Overall, the group’s revenue rose 12.9 per cent to RM3.59 billion in the quarter under review from RM3.18 billion previously.
To recap, DRB-Hicom will operate a nine-month financial period in 2019 following its decision to move its fiscal year end from March to December.
Moving forward, the group said it had been steadfast in the prolonged challenging environment, backed by its automotive sector.
“With the financial year end now just a month away, Proton and all of DRB-Hicom’s other automotive brands will seek to gain momentum with the usual array of aggressive year-end sales promotions as well as launches.
“For other businesses, the focus will remain on prudent cost management efforts and improving operating efficiency. Pos Malaysia’s challenging landscape is being managed with the application on tariff rebalancing which is expected to conclude positively to improve its overall performance,” it said.
It added the group expected to achieve a satisfactory performance for the full nine-month financial period ending December 31, 2019. — Bernama
