DRB-Hicom's Q1 pre-tax profit down 1.7% to RM96.2m

by **Cals** Fri 30 Aug 2013, 02:11

Published: Thursday August 29, 2013 MYT 6:40:00 PM
Updated: Thursday August 29, 2013 MYT 6:42:19 PM
DRB-Hicom's Q1 pre-tax profit down 1.7% to RM96.2m

KUALA LUMPUR: DRB-Hicom Bhd's pre-tax profit fell 1.7% to RM96.21mil in the first quarter ended June 30, 2014 from RM97.91mil a year ago mainly due to higher interest cost.
It said on Thursday its revenue fell 11.7% to RM3.054bil from RM3.463bil. Net profit fell 68.5% to RM10.25mil from RM32.60mil. Earnings per share were 0.53 sen compared with 1.69 sen.
The net profit was impacted by net loss on fair value changes of securities available for sale of RM17.89mil and currency translations differences of foreign subsidiaries of RM17.62mil.
On the decline in revenue, DRB-Hicom said the decrease was primarily driven by lower sales volume in the automotive sector due to unfavourable market sentiment during the quarter.
"The drop in automotive sector's revenue was due to the softening of motor vehicle sales as consumers had held back purchases in anticipation of the lowering of car prices after the general election," it said.
Revenue from the automotive sector fell to RM2.331bil from RM2.760bil a year ago.
DRB-Hicom group managing director Tan Sri Mohd Khamil Jamil said: "There have been uncertainties in the market where the public had been anticipating reduced vehicle prices. This has contributed to an overall drop in automotive sales for this quarter.
"However, with the new model launches and attractive sales offerings by the group's automotive companies such as the launch of Proton Saga SV in mid-June 2013 and Proton Suprima S in mid-August 2013, we are expecting the sales to improve in the coming months."