The improvement in profit by 41.7% was driven by the group’s higher profits from its industrial business and wholly-owned subsidiary UMW Holdings Bhd.

“Revenue jumped by 63.4% to RM18.84 billion from RM11.53 billion previously,” Sime Darby said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

It said the strong performance of the group’s Malaysia and Singapore operations helped to cushion the impact of low vehicle margins at the motors division’s China operations.

Group CEO Jeffri Salim Davidson said the group ended the quarter on a high note, with the industrial division continuing to be the key driver, leveraging strong prospects in the mining sector particularly in Australasia.

“This goes to show that the mining business in Australia is still very strong and continues to be profitable.

“This quarter also marked the UMW division’s first full quarter contribution to the group,” he said.

Moving forward, Jeffri said the integration of UMW into Sime Darby will remain a key priority.

“Our strong performance is a testament to the hard work and collaborative spirit of our teams across the industrial, motors and UMW divisions.

“With their continued dedication, we are well positioned to unlock new growth opportunities and deliver sustained value for our stakeholders,” he added.

For the nine-month period ended March 31, 2024 (M9 FY2024), the group’s net profit increased by more than 100% to RM3.22 billion from RM836 million a year ago, largely attributed to the RM2 billion gain on the disposal of Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care in December 2023.

“While revenue gained by 38.1% to RM48.3 billion from RM35 billion,” the group said.