PETALING JAYA: Bermaz Auto Bhd’s (BAuto) net profit for the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2021 jumped 28 folds to RM66.83 million from RM2.46 million a year ago largely due to higher profit contribution from the domestic operations, and higher share of profit contribution from Mazda Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MMSB).
The higher profit contribution from the domestic operations was mainly attributed to higher unit sales. The higher profit contribution from MMSB was mainly due to the improvement in gross profit and reversal of over-accrued provisions.
Its revenue increased 114.2% to RM641.20 million as compared to RM299.36 million in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year largely due to the improvement in sales volume from the domestic operations despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The improvement in sales volume for the domestic operations was mainly attributed to the positive impact from the Short-Term Recovery Plan (Penjana) economic stimulus package introduced by the government in June 2020 which provided 100% sales tax exemption on CKD vehicles and 50% sales tax exemption on CBU vehicles for the period from June 15, 2020 to Dec 31, 2020. The expiry date for the SST exemption was extended to June 30, 2021 and subsequently extended to Dec 31, 2021 in the movement control order (MCO) 3.0 period. The lower revenue in the same quarter of the preceding year was also attributed to the MCO 1.0 lockdown which resulted in a 44-day closure of the business operations in Malaysia.
For the financial year ended April 30, 2021 (FY21), BAuto’s net profit rose 32.8% to RM133.94 million from RM100.84 million a year ago largely due to higher profit contribution from the domestic operations. The higher profit contribution from the domestic operations was mainly attributed to higher unit sales.
The group registered a 30.3% higher revenue of RM2.29 billion as compared to the revenue of RM1.76 billion in the corresponding period of the preceding year largely due to higher sales volume from the domestic operations.
The higher domestic sales volume for the financial year was mainly attributed to the improved sales volume in the second to fourth quarter as a result of the positive impact from the introduction of the economic stimulus package under Penjana as well as from the aggressive promotional campaign introduced by the group. The group’s revenue in the preceding year was negatively affected during the fourth quarter because of the MCO 1.0 lockdown, which resulted in a 44-day closure of the business operations in Malaysia.
The board has approved and declared a fourth interim dividend of 1.50 sen single-tier dividend per share and a special dividend of 1.75 sen single-tier dividend per share in respect of FY21 to be payable on Aug 5, 2021. This will bring the total dividend declared for FY21 to be 6.50 sen single-tier dividend per share.
“The group managed to register encouraging results for FY21 despite the Covid-19 pandemic mainly due to its aggressive promotional campaigns and government incentives such as the sales tax exemptions. The group’s business ventures into new car brands (Peugeot and Kia) and retailing of automotive spare parts are in their infant stages. Hence, they are not expected to have a major impact on the group’s results for FY22,” BAuto said.
The unpredictable course of the pandemic globally and domestically continues to be a major concern for all and will have an impact on the overall growth of the economy. The slower-than-expected rollout of vaccines and detection of new strains of the Covid-19 virus could also result in stronger precautionary behaviour by consumers. The extension of the sales tax exemptions to Dec 3,2021 for passenger cars under the Pemerkasa+ economic stimulus package augurs well for the automotive market.
