KUALA LUMPUR: DRB-HICOM Bhd chalked up RM554.13 million net profit for the year ended December 31, 2020 (FY20) on a revenue of RM13.15 billion.
In an exchange filing today, the conglomerate said the profit was realised from gain of disposal of certain assets and a moderate recovery in business activities in the second half of 2020.
DRB-HICOM recorded a net profit of RM985.99 million and revenues of RM4.85 billion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 on the back of higher contribution from the automotive and property sectors.
There was no comparison for the quarter and full-year period as DRB-HICOM has revised its financial period.
DRB-HICOM's subsidiary Proton Holdings Bhd continued to garner positive impact from the government's decision to declare a sales tax holiday for passenger vehicle purchases.
"(Proton) revenue was charted at RM8.0 billion for FY20, with Q4 recording its best quarter for the 12-month period with RM2.6 billion worth of sales, up 3.0 per cent from the preceding quarter."
The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) projected a moderately-paced recovery over the next four years, with an 8.0 per cent growth in 2021, and about 3.0 per cent a year until 2025.
It added that more than 95 per cent of growth could be driven from the passenger vehicles.
Revenue for the services sector came in at RM3.5 billion in FY20, spurred by the contributions from postal and logistics subsidiaries as well as banking operations.
In Q4, the segment's revenue was RM877.4 million, its second-best performing quarter after the third quarter period which saw revenue hit RM918.7 million.
For the properties sector, revenue was at RM1.3 billion, boosted by the completion of the disposals of property assets and investments by the group.
"The disposal - first announced in 2018 as part of the re-structuring of DRB-HICOM's property businesses - saw the group recognise a gain of RM862.6 million."
Among the disposals were the group's residential landbank, with the properties sector now focussing more on industrial properties, with their extensive landbank in Kedah, Perak, Melaka and Johor.
It also marked DRB-HICOM's exit from the hospitality industry.
DRB-HICOM said the national Covid-19 vaccination programme was expected to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and stimulate growth towards a longer-term economic recovery.
"The automotive sector will continue as a key growth driver for group. With the extension of sales tax exemption for passenger cars until June 30, 2021, the MAA is optimistic that the local automotive market will rebound in 2021, with projected total industry volume (TIV) rising to 570,000 units, compared to 529,434 units in 2020."
It said the expected introduction of facelift variants and aggressive promotional campaigns by various marques under the group would also boost its automotive businesses in the current financial year ending December 31, 2021 (FY21).
Pos Malaysia Bhd will continue its transformation initiatives this year with the aim of improving efficiency, managing costs and capitalising on growth opportunities.
"The e- commerce sector is booming, as more and more Malaysians embrace home shopping as a safety net in these pandemic times.
"Thus, the national postal company continues to invest towards strengthening its digital infrastructure which will enable it to serve its customers better and more efficiently."
DRB-HICOM's businesses in the defence, aerospace, banking, services and properties segments will also continue to target for operating efficiencies towards optimising their costs while improving productivity.
The group expects a challenging FY21 as the global developments surrounding the containment of Covid-19 remain fluid amid difficult economic landscape.
"We will continue to adopt or where necessary, design new prudent cost management approaches, while focusing on strengthening its respective core business segments to ensure business continuity," it added.