Motus Holdings’ revenue stable despite lower sales |
Motus Holdings has raised its operating profit by 7 percent
JSE-LISTED automotive group Motus Holdings reported stable revenue in the year to December 2018, despite reduced sales volumes attributed to market contraction amid a subdued South African economic environment.
The group, which was unbundled from Imperial Holdings last year, yesterday said that its revenue remained stable at about R39 billion.
Motus lifted its operating profit by 7 percent to R1.8bn compared with R1.7bn the previous year, while earnings per share slipped by the same margin down to 436 cents a share from 468c a share in the 2017 comparable period.
Its South African operations generated revenue and operating profit of 68 percent and 92 percent respectively, with the remainder generated mainly in the UK and Australia.
The passenger and commercial vehicle business, including the UK and Australia, retailed 68 725 new units from 72 570 units in the prior corresponding period and 41 071 preowned units from 40 067 during the six months. Motus is the exclusive South African importer of Hyundai, Kia, Renault and Mitsubishi.
According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers South Africa, the country retailed 552 000 vehicles, 1 percent down from the prior year. The downward trend was continuing, as January’s new vehicle sales declined by 7.4 percent yearon-year and passenger vehicle sales declined by 10.8 percent year on year.
“We expect consumers to be cautious in the first half of the calendar year, with some improvement in the second half of the 2019 calendar year. We project no growth year-on-year in national vehicle sales for the 2019 calendar year at around 550 000 units,” the group said.
Motus said its retail market share stood at 19.3 percent at December 2018 from 19.9 percent in June 2017.
The company said that South African industry margins would remain under pressure as the market remained highly competitive and consumers continued to trade down to smaller, more affordable vehicles.
“With no new jobs being created, political uncertainty locally and globally, rand volatility, and no imminent interest rate cuts, there is no real economic growth in sight in the short term. This does not bode well for the consumer and economic growth in the short term,” it said.
Motus shares closed 4.05 percent higher at R85.27 on the JSE yesterday