KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 12): Bermaz Auto Bhd, whose share price climbed to a new peak of RM2.25 on Sept 11, saw its net profit jumped 99.8% year-on-year to RM100.22 million in the first quarter ended July 31, 2023 (1QFY2024). 

This is the second consecutive quarter that the automaker’s earnings are above RM100 million. 

It posted net profit of RM100.66 million in the preceding quarter ended April 30, 2023 (4QFY2023), and RM50.16 million a year ago. 

The strong earnings growth was fuelled by higher sales volume of Mazda cars locally and better contribution from its associated company, Mazda Malaysia Sdn Bhd. 

The automaker announced that quarterly revenue leaped 52% to RM1.09 billion from RM716.87 million a year ago, mainly attributable to the brisk sales, particularly the CX-30 CKD model, which was introduced to the domestic market in March this year, and the continued fulfilment of the balance back orders for Mazda 3.

Earnings per share swelled to 8.59 sen from 4.32 sen previously.

The group declared a first interim dividend of five sen per share, payable on Nov 3.

Compared to the preceding quarter, Bermaz’s revenue grew 1.6% against RM1.07 billion in the previous quarter. 

Moving forward, Bermaz expects that the sales growth in the automotive sector to continue but at a slower pace due to the expiry of the sales tax exemption incentives on June 30, 2022 and underpinned by improved supply chains and vehicle shipments. 

However, it noted that inflationary pressures, uncertainties in geopolitical conflicts and weaker global growth will continue to have an impact on the overall economy. 

“Hence, the launching of new and/or new facelift models of the group’s vehicle marques, namely, Mazda, Peugeot and Kia, are still very much dependent on the market sentiments and economic conditions,” it said.

Nonetheless, the group anticipates its performance to remain positive for the financial year ending April 30, 2024 (FY2024).

Bermaz's share price has gained roughly 31% over the past 12 months from RM1.66 on Sept 1 last year to RM2.18 on Tuesday (Sept 12), translating into a market capitalisation of RM2.56 billion.