KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): DRB-Hicom Bhd registered a 50.8% drop in net profit to RM70.80 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), compared with RM143.95 million a year ago, as revenue and share of profit from associate companies declined.

Quarterly revenue declined by 12% to RM4.0 billion from RM4.54 billion a year prior, mainly due to decreased contribution from its automotive, aerospace and defence, and postal business sectors, DRB-Hicom said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday.

"In the automotive sector, Proton faced challenges from new car model launches by competitors and thus achieved lower sales in the current quarter," DRB-Hicom added.

In respect of the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2023 (9MFY2023), the group’s revenue increased by 8.2% to RM12.08 billion compared with RM11.16 billion in the corresponding period last year.

However, its net profit fell 26.2% to RM212.42 million in 9MFY2023 against RM287.77 million in the previous year.

The increase in revenue during the period was mainly driven by the automotive sector, which reported a 9.4% increase in revenue to RM8.76 billion compared with RM8.01 billion in last year's corresponding period.

DRB-Hicom said Proton continued its upward sales trajectory by 14.1% or 116,832 units sold in 9MFY2023, with Proton Saga remaining as its best-selling model with 51,484 units delivered, followed by the Proton X50 SUV and Persona, with a cumulative sales performance of 43,574 units.

"Proton’s first New Energy Vehicle, the mild hybrid Proton X90 SUV, has successfully attracted more than 4,000 new owners since its launch in May 2023," DRB-Hicom added.

Its shares were down two sen or 1.38% to close at RM1.43 on Thursday, valuing the group at RM2.76 billion.