KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): DRB-Hicom Bhd (KL:DRBHCOM), the flagship of tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, fell back into the red as key subsidiaries under its control suffered losses.

After just two quarters in the black, net loss for the three months ended Sept 30, 2025 (3QFY2025) was RM15.2 million, the company said in an exchange filing. As a group, DRB-Hicom was profitable though most of the income belonged to non-controlling interests.

Revenue rose 8.6% year-on-year to RM4.49 billion with its automotive business leading growth across all sectors.

DRB-Hicom said the outlook for the year would be “moderate” amid external headwinds that will drag on its overall performance and industry outlook as the conglomerate enters the final months of 2025.

Nonetheless, the company expects momentum at its automotive business to persist from strong consumer confidence in its electric vehicle brand following the launch of the Proton e.MAS 5 and e.MAS 7’s dominance as Malaysia’s best-selling electric vehicle.

The acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which is expected to be completed by end-2025, is expected to accelerate its aerospace-and-defence segment’s growth, DRB-Hicom said.

For the first nine months, net profit dropped 12% year-on-year to RM60.62 million amid softer income from the aerospace and defence, postal and properties sectors. An increase of 4.2% in revenue to RM12.74 billion cushioned the blow during the period.

No dividend was declared for the quarter.

Shares of DRB-Hicom ended unchanged at RM1.30, valuing the group at RM2.51 billion ahead of the results announcement.