PETALING JAYA (June 29): Bermaz Auto Bhd has almost 9,000 outstanding orders for Mazda vehicles which it aims to fulfil by the first quarter of 2023 (1Q23) for customers to enjoy the sales and services tax (SST) exemption. Given that sales have been robust this year, the company is confident of meeting shareholder expectations of a dividend payment.

Bermaz executive chairman Datuk Seri Ben Yeoh Choon San said he does not see the heavy backlog of orders as an issue because the time of booking and expected time of delivery is clarified and constantly made transparent to customers.

Recently, the government announced that buyers who make a booking order for a vehicle up to the SST exemption deadline of June 30 will have until March 31, 2023 to register the vehicle to enjoy the tax exemption.

Bermaz is careful to ensure consistent manufacturing output to prevent overcapacity once the spike in manufacturing activities taper off when the government incentive expires and demand shrinks, said Yeoh at a press conference on Wednesday (June 29) after the launch of the new Mazda CX-8 and battery-electric vehicle Mazda MX-30 at 1Utama Shopping Centre.

He declined to indicate Bermaz's target sales or profit forecast for the new launches as he observed: “It is difficult to judge at this moment because of unforeseeable situations like supply chain disruption and the logistics issue now, so the supply situation will have to be slowly built up and how we manage that is still a challenge for us.”

He also said Bermaz's purchases of Mazda are in Japanese yen and therefore, favourable to Bermaz at this point in time.  

Asked how Bermaz would fare in the event of a recession in the United States, chief executive officer Datuk Francis Lee Kok Chuan said that if Mazda is able to meet its production, then shareholders can expect a decent dividend.

“We have about 9,000 and probably 10,000 (Mazda) bookings by the end of the day. Hopefully the production constraint will be met and reduced in the coming months. If we can do that, then Bermaz will continue to give a decent dividend, we always try to be better than the fixed deposit rates.

“Based on the current situation, we will be able to make that dividend payout but also that is subject to production from Japan. I believe that we will definitely be able to meet our stakeholders expectations,” Lee said.

Bermaz Motor Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bermaz, is the exclusive distributor of Mazda vehicles and spare parts in Malaysia.

Bermaz share price settled two sen or 1.14% lower at RM1.74, which translates to a market capitalisation of RM2.03 billion.