KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): Bermaz Auto Bhd (KL:BAUTO), which assembles Mazda-branded vehicles, flagged tough times ahead after its quarterly profits slumped to a three-year low as Chinese rivals ate into its market share.

Net profit for its third quarter ended Jan 31, 2025 (3QFY2025) plunged 66% to RM24.14 million from the same period a year earlier, according to the company’s filing on Wednesday. Revenue for the quarter declined 32.8% year-on-year to RM602.08 million, its weakest since 2QFY2022.

Moving forward, Bermaz Auto warned that market conditions will remain challenging, citing the rising presence of Chinese automakers, the impending fuel subsidy rationalisation, and the mid-2025 hike in base electricity tariffs.  

Inflationary pressures, geopolitical uncertainties, and weaker global growth are likely to impact both Malaysia’s economy and the local automotive sector, the company flagged. “The board anticipates the performance of the group to be challenging for the financial year ending April 30, 2025,” it said.

While new vehicle sales in Malaysia rose by 2% last year, Mazda’s sales volume contracted by 24%, data from the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) showed. In contrast, Chinese brands Chery and BYD saw the strongest growth, together capturing 3.5% of the market share versus 1% in 2023.

Broadly, new vehicle sales in Malaysia are projected to decline to 780,000 units this year following a record high in 2024, according to MAA, which represents more than a dozen domestic and foreign brands, assemblers, distributors and retailers.

For the first nine months of FY2025, Bermaz Auto’s net profit totalled RM134.71 million, a decline of 48% when compared to the same period in the preceding year. Revenue shrank nearly 30% year-on-year to RM2.10 billion as sales volume of Mazda as well as Kia vehicles both fell.

Bermaz Auto declared a third interim single-tier dividend of 1.75 sen per share, bringing the total dividend declared to date to 15.25 sen.

Shares of Bermaz Auto closed up three sen or 3% to RM1.04, valuing the company at RM1.22 billion ahead of the results announcement.