UMW Holdings posts RM110.3m in 3Q19, highest in last four quarters

KUALA LUMPUR: UMW Holdings Bhd registered a net profit of RM110.3 million for the third quarter ended September 2019, its highest in the last four quarters.

This was mainly supported by the manufacturing & engineering (M&E) segment.

The automotive and equipment segments, however, registered lower earnings due to sluggish demand in the current quarter.

Group president and group chief executive officer Badrul Feisal Abdul Rahim said despite the continued challenging economic and operating environment, UMW continued to deliver healthy and encouraging results.

“We are implementing strategic and innovative initiatives across the group through our transformation agenda which have seen promising results so far in delivering greater value to our shareholders. The group is also actively implementing cost optimisation initiatives to improve our business performance and operational productivity,” he said.

Badrul said the automotive segment would focus on introducing new, appealing and value-for-money models to remain competitive in the Malaysian automotive industry, supported by its new automotive assembly plant in Bukit Raja, Selangor.

Expansion of products and rental business was expected to drive the performance of the industrial equipment sub-segment, while heavy equipment business may benefit from the recent revival of some infrastructure projects in Malaysia, he added.

Badrul said the outlook for the M&E segment remains upbeat as the group continued to ramp-up production and delivery of fan cases to Rolls-Royce.

Demand for auto components products and lubricants is expected to be sustainable over the long term.

Badrul is optimistic that the strong performance in the last three quarters will enable the firm to meet its projections for the full financial year.

“We are confident that the success of the undertaken transformation initiatives will continue to generate higher value to the shareholders and contribute positively to the Malaysian economy at large,” he said.

The company declared a special dividend of four sen per share in respect of the financial year ending December 2019.