SIME DARBY SEES SMALL INCREASE IN CAR PRICES
PETALING JAYA: Sime Darby Bhd expects a slight increase in the prices of vehicles it distributes when the Sales and Services Tax kicks in tomorrow.
Group chief executive officer Jeffri Salim Davidson said the overall automotive market would likely slow in the next few months before normalising.
“In theory, there will be an increase in prices and a slowdown in the last quarter of this year. The market will find its own equilibrium,” he said at a briefing on Sime Darby’s full-year results for its fiscal year ended June 30, here, yesterday.
Sime Darby is the distributor of high-end vehicles, including BMW and MINI, in Malaysia.
Net earnings rose 0.5 per cent year-on-year to RM618 million, while revenue for continuing operations increased 8.8 per cent.
Sime Darby’s continuing operations comprise industrial, motors, logistics and healthcare businesses.
Core net profit for the continuing operations rose 36 per cent to RM835 million. This excluded one-off gains, impairments and provisions for the financial year.
“Sime Darby’s strong earnings for the financial year 2018 were largely attributed to the recovery of the mining sector in Australia and increased infrastructure spend in China,” said Jeffri.
Its motors division posted a profit before interest and tax of
RM543 million, compared with RM633 million in the previous financial year.
This was due to losses from the group’s exit from the Vietnam BMW business of RM199 million — a key factor in the division’s 14.2 per cent profit decline.
Excluding this and other oneoff items, the motor division’s profit rose 3.4 per cent, mainly due to higher contributions from
Hong Kong, Macau and Australia operations.
Meanwhile, Jeffri said the government’s decision to review mega infrastructure projects such as the East Coast Rail Link would have an impact on Sime Darby’s industrial business.
“But other projects, such as the Pan-Borneo Highway and West Coast Expressway, will help offset it,” he added.