KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 16): Pecca Group Bhd, which posted record profit and revenue for the past three financial years, is confident of maintaining its earnings momentum with another set of all-time high figures in the upcoming year ending June 30, 2024 (FY2024).

The automotive upholstery maker’s chief executive officer Foo Ken Nee said the group expects to do even better than the previous year in FY2024, supported by a strong backlog of orders received from carmakers.  

“Pecca has three- to six months of [backlog] orders,” he told a press conference after the group’s annual general meeting. “Hence, we strongly believe that in the next financial year (FY2024), we will do much better than in FY2023.

Indeed, Pecca is off to a running start for FY2024 when it posted a fifth straight record-breaking quarterly net profit of RM13.01 million for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (1QFY2024). The 55.8% jump in net profit was driven by higher sales of upholstery car seat covers and improved operational efficiency.

The sterling results were underpinned by a 16.7% growth in quarterly revenue to RM64.05 million, against RM54.86 million achieved in 1QFY2023.

For FY2023, Pecca posted a net profit of RM35.43 million, up from RM22.84 million in FY2022 and RM19.22 million in FY2021. Revenue grew to RM221.26 million in FY2023, from RM164.39 million in FY2022 and 144.75 million in FY2021.

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has projected the country’s total car sales to rise to a new record of 725,000 units in 2023, from 720,658 in 2022. The 2023 total industry volume (TIV) figure was revised upwards from 650,000 units projected in January, underpinned by a stable economic outlook, new model launches and further improvement in the automotive industry supply chain environment.   

Pecca is constructing its second manufacturing plant in Serendah, Selangor, which is expected to commence operations by mid-2025. The capital expenditure for the new plant is RM45 million to RM50 million, of which RM8 million is for land acquisition, another RM10 million to RM15 million for the installation of machinery, and RM30 million for construction work.  

Upon completion, the group’s annual capacity will double to between 400,000 and 480,000 seats, Foo noted.  

As at June 30, 2023, the group had cash holdings of RM111.23 million, while borrowings stood at RM11.87 million.

Foo said the group is looking to expand its market by venturing into the luxury car brands market. Currently, Pecca installs leather upholstery car seat covers for Perodua, Proton, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Nissan.

Pecca’s share price was down one sen or 0.83% to RM1.20 on Thursday afternoon, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM902 million. Year to date, the stock has risen 45%.

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