Bermaz’s M’sia operation to sustain for remaining of FY23
KUCHING: Bermaz Auto Bhd’s (Bermaz) Malaysia operation is expected by analysts to sustain for the remaining of financial year 2023 (FY23) in line with the anticipated strong Malaysia economic recovery.
According to the research arm of Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB Research), this will be supported by the strong order backlogs of 8,500 units for Mazda, 500 units for Peugeot and 1,000 units for Kia.
Meanwhile, as per RHB Investment Bank Bhd’s (RHB Investment Bank)’s calculations, the research firm also opined that Bermaz’s order backlog remains healthy, and can sufficiently sustain the group for more than two quarters.
The research firm estimated that its Mazda orders in July had fallen by more than 50 per cent from the first half of 2022 (1H22) average, but have recovered in August.
“We believe the orders fell strongly, mainly because Bermaz saw stronger-than-peers’ orders in May,” RHB Investment Bank said.
“Orders for Kia remain strong, being almost entirely driven by the encouraging orders for the Kia Carnival.
“With more new Kia models to be launched, we think the brand will continue to perform well.”
The research firm gathered that, unlike the other companies, Bermaz’s car sales is still weighed down by the chip shortage, while it still lacks visibility on its completely built up (CBU) allocation.
“Currently the group is extending a five per cent Sales and Service Tax (SST) exemption for completely knocked down (CKD) models and 2.5 per cent for CBU models, as part of group’s strategy to sustain its overall new sales orders post government’s ending of SST exemptions measures since end June 2022,” HLIB Research noted.
The research arm further noted that Bermaz is currently benefitting from the depreciated Japanese yen against ringgit.
“Similarly, the Philippines operation is also experiencing a strong recovery following the removal of lockdown restrictions, allowing economic activities to operate at full capacity again.
“Bermaz Auto Philippines recorded a strong profit before tax (PBT) of RM7.1 million for the quarter driven by lower operational costs and appreciation of Philippine peso against Japanese yen.”