Strong performance in DRB-HICOM’s automotive division has pushed the conglomerate back into black. It ended its financial year ending 31-December 2022 with RM409.99 million profit before tax, reversing the previous financial year’s pre-tax loss of RM291.27 million.
However it also registered a pre-tax loss of RM73.13 million for Q4 2022, but the group says this is mainly due to year-end assessment’s impairment loss of assets.
The automotive division is the group’s crown jewel, leading revenue growth with an increase of RM 2.89 billion, up 35.2 percent (FY2022: RM11.09 billion, FY2021: FY8.20 billion).
DRB-HICOM says the growth is attributed to by the Government’s sales tax holiday which boosted revenue for Proton and other marques under the DRB-HICOM umbrella.
For FY2022, the national carmaker Proton sold its highest number of units since 2013, totalling 141,432 units (domestic and export), an increase of 23.3 percent year-on-year.
Other sectors that contributing to the group’s increase in revenue is Aerospace & Defence (up 41 percent to RM 254.46 million) and Banking (up 13.7 percent to RM 152.36 million).
Apart from holding 50.1 percent in Proton Holdings, DRB-HICOM also owns EON, one of the country’s largest multi-brand dealer group.
Although EON is best known as a Proton dealer, EON Auto Mart is the largest dealer for Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia. EON also operates Euromobil (Audi) and HICOM Auto (Volkswagen) dealerships.
Beyond retail, DRB-HICOM is also a local partner of Honda Malaysia, Isuzu Malaysia, and Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia.
Its DRB-HICOM Auto Solutions (DHAS) handles importation and logistics for many automotive marques.
The group is also involved in manufacturing and engineering. The division also benefited from the growth in DRB-HICOM’s automotive retail business.
Its subsidiary PHN is a body stamping and chassis parts vendor to many automotive brands, including those outside of the DRB-HICOM family. HICOM-TECK SEE is a major supplier of plastics body and interior parts for many CKD cars here.
The HICOM Automotive plant in Pekan is also home to vehicle assembly facilities for Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, and Volkswagen.
Source: Back in black – Proton pulls up DRB-HICOM’s FY2022 earnings, RM 409.99 mil profit before tax