Revenue, however, rose 12% to RM3.98 billion from RM3.55 billion previously, the conglomerate controlled by Syed Mokhtar Albukhary said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
The tycoon owns a 55.9% stake in DRB-Hicom through his investment vehicle Etika Strategi Sdn Bhd.
For the first six months (H1 FY2023), its net profit declined to RM141.62 million from RM143.82 million in H1 FY2022 while revenue surged 22.1% to RM8.09 billion from RM6.62 billion previously.
“Performance in H1 2023 was mainly driven by the automotive sector, in particular by Proton, as well as DRB-Hicom’s automotive distribution, and manufacturing and engineering companies, which registered a 27.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in revenue,” the group said in a separate statement.
It said the banking sector’s revenue rose 37.3% y-o-y to RM806.77 million in H1 2023 primarily due to higher financing income led by the growth in financing volume.
“This was attributed to sustainable growth and expanding customer base as well as the rise in the overnight policy rate to 3% in the current period against 2% in the corresponding period,” it said.
DRB-Hicom said revenue for the services sector increased by 13.3% y-o-y in H1 2023 driven by the inflight catering business and new contracts secured by the logistics business.
Meanwhile, the property sector’s revenue improved by 20.6% in H1 2023 mainly due to higher revenue recognised from property construction projects, which was partially offset by lower revenue from development projects.
On its prospects, DRB-Hicom said to ensure sustainable growth, the group will continue to strengthen its operational efficiency and cost management initiatives for the other core sectors, namely aerospace and defence, banking, services, and properties.
“The postal sector remains on track in its transformation roadmap, leveraging on technology to enhance customer experience and continue to adopt prudent cost-control discipline,” it said.
The group expects a satisfactory financial performance for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023) as compared to FY2022.
As at 3.25pm, DRB-Hicom’s share price was down by 8 sen or 5.1% at RM1.49, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.9 billion.