BAuto anticipates challenging year ahead

PETALING JAYA: Bermaz Auto Bhd (BAuto) anticipates its performance for the financial year ending 30 April 2026 to be challenging.

For the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2025 (4Q25), the group’s net profit saw a 77% drop year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM21.20mil or earnings per share of 1.82 sen.

Revenue, on the other hand, fell by 44% y-o-y to RM528.65mil largely due to drop in sales volume from its Mazda and Kia domestic operations as they were mainly impacted by the continuous influx of Chinese-made vehicles into the market, which are competitively priced.

For the financial year ended April 30, 2025, the group’s net profit declined by 55% y-o-y to RM155.91mil or earnings per share of 13.35 sen. Revenue also decreased by 33% y-o-y to RM2.6bil.

The company said the automotive sector is expected to register lower growth due to factors such as inflationary pressures, weaker global growth from uncertainties in geopolitical conflicts and outcomes of negotiations on trade tariffs imposed by the US, which will have an adverse impact on the overall local economy.

Moreover, the continuous influx of Chinese marque vehicles had also impacted the sales of other marques in the country.

The group said the launching of new and / or new facelifts models of its existing and new vehicle marques are still very much dependent on the market sentiments and economic conditions then.

BAuto also said according to the Malaysian Automotive Association, the total industry volume (TIV) in April 2025 of 60,527 units was 16.8% lower (12,177 units) than in March 2025 (72,704 units) as a result of the short working month in April 2025 due to the Hari Raya festive holidays and high festive deliveries in March 2025.

The year-on-year TIV for the first four months of 2025 was 248,730 units, a decline of 14,320 units (down by 5.4%) compared to the same period last year of 263,050 units.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the Department of Finance had reported in May 2025 that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) registered a growth rate of 5.4% for the first quarter of calendar year 2025 (4Q24: 5.3%).

The Philippines economic outlook for 2025 is expected to remain positive with an expected GDP growth rate of around 6.0% in the coming quarters.

BAuto said the Board has approved and declared a fourth interim dividend of 1.50 sen single-tier dividend per share in respect of the financial year ended April 30, 2025 (previous year's corresponding quarter ended April 30, 2024: 4.75 sen single-tier dividend per share and a special dividend of 7.00 sen single-tier dividend per share) to be payable on Aug 5, 2025.

The entitlement date has been fixed on July 18, 2025.