The drop has been attributed to a decline in the performance of the industrial and motor segments despite better results from the logistics segment as well as the absence of one-off gains.
Revenue for the quarter slipped 4.1% to RM10.57 billion against RM11.02 billion reported previously.
According to the group’s bourse filing, the industrial segment saw profit before interest and tax (PBIT) fall 21.1% in 3Q2022 attributed to a lower performance from the China and Australasia regions.
Its motors segment saw a lower PBIT for the quarter mainly due to the Singapore goods and services tax (GST) refund of RM39 million seen previously. Without the one-off item the segment saw a 4.5% higher profit from its Malaysia operations.
Meanwhile, the logistics business saw higher PBIT mainly due to the fair value gain on the Jining investment of RM4 million and the losses from consolidating the results of the Jining Ports operations in the previous corresponding period.
Sime Darby group CEO Jeffri Salim Davidson said that despite increasingly tough market conditions the group was able to deliver resilient results on a core profit level for the third quarter of FY2022.
“Motors Malaysia was a stand-out performer as profits more than tripled thanks to higher vehicle margins and higher profits from assembly operations,” he said in a statement.
“The reopening of economies and bullish commodity prices should sustain our business in the coming quarters,” he added.
Davidson stressed that Sime Darby remains committed to its long-term growth strategy and will continue to capitalise on opportunities to rationalise its portfolio and double efforts to strengthen its core businesses, namely industrial and motors.
Taking into consideration the net one-off gains mainly from the disposal of non-core assets recorded in the previous financial year, the group’s board expects the FY2022 financial performance to be lower than the previous year.
For the cumulative nine month period ended March 31, 2022 net profit tumbled 32% to RM825 million from RM1.21 billion posted for the same period of the preceding year.
Revenue for the period stood at RM31.78 billion, a 4.1% drop from RM33.14 billion recorded previously.