Shah Alam, 16 Aug 2012 – The UMW Group announced today that its Group revenue of RM4,139.8 million for the second quarter ended 30 June 2012 exceeded the RM3,166.5 million registered in the preceding year’s corresponding quarter by RM973.3 million or 30.7 percent. Higher revenue from all business segments of the Group, particularly the Automotive segment, resulted in the substantial increase in revenue.
Consequently, Group profit before taxation of RM510.2 million for the second quarter ended 30 June 2012 outperformed the RM283.8 million registered in the same quarter of 2011 by 79.8 percent, or RM226.4 million. Significantly higher profit contributions from the Automotive segment coupled with improved profit from the Oil & Gas and Equipment segments, resulted in the profit surge. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company in the second quarter of 2012 improved substantially to RM224.2 million from the RM103.0 million registered in the same quarter of 2011, an increase of RM121.2 million or more than 100 percent.
Automotive Segment
Sale of Toyota vehicles for the second quarter ended 30 June 2012 improved tremendously by approximately 41 percent or 8,391 units over the preceding year’s corresponding quarter. UMW Toyota Motor holds a market share of 17.4 percent for the first half of the year.
Similarly, for the second quarter of 2012, Perodua recorded a surge of 45.9 percent or 14,597 units in vehicle sales compared to the same quarter of 2011. Demand for the new Perodua MyVi remained strong in the second quarter of 2012. The impact of Bank Negara Malaysia’s responsible lending guidelines on loan approval rate, processing lead time and loan amounts continue to improve over time. Rejection rate in June has eased to 24 percent from 27 percent in January 2012, an improvement of 3 percent or 4 percent higher than the pre-guideline level of 20 percent. In contrast, in the second quarter of 2011, longer lead time in new vehicle registration arising from the amendments to the Hire Purchase Act had affected Perodua vehicle sales.
Substantial increase in vehicle sales volume coupled with more favourable model mix, mainly accounted for the sizeable profit contributions from the Automotive segment. For the first half ended 30 June 2012, total vehicle sales of Toyota, Lexus and Perodua reached 145,254 units, representing 48.2 percent of the total industry volume.
Equipment Segment
The Equipment Segment registered a revenue improvement of 18.6 percent or RM87.7 million for the second quarter of 2012 compared to the same quarter of 2011, principally due to:
• continued strong demand for equipment and parts
• increase in equipment rental fleet size
• higher sale of parts and services; and
• the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan had resulted in delay in the supply of Komatsu, Toyota and Mitsubishi equipment in the second quarter of 2011.
In line with higher revenue, profit before tax of the Equipment segment increased to RM56.7 million from the RM38.2 million registered in the same quarter of 2011, an improvement of 48.4 percent or RM18.5 million.
Oil & Gas Segment
Revenue of the Oil & Gas segment for the current quarter ended 30 June 2012 increased by RM85.9 million or 30 percent compared to the same quarter of 2011 as a result of the following:
• full-quarter revenue contribution from Hakuryu 5, a semi-submersible rig. Hakuryu 5 was not income-generating in the second quarter of 2011;
• increase in day-rate for NAGA 3 offshore rig from 20 March 2012; and
• additional revenue contribution from the Garraf Power Plant Phase 1 project.
Consequently, profit for the Oil & Gas segment improved by about 56-fold due to the low base effect. Favourable movement in fair value of its overseas quoted investments also contributed to the profit movement.
Manufacturing & Engineering Segment
The Manufacturing & Engineering segment achieved a slight improvement in revenue by RM7.7 million or 4.4 percent in the current quarter ended 30 June 2012 compared to the RM174.3 million recorded in the same quarter of 2011. Higher capacity utilisation by its new automotive component plants in India and lubricant plant in China, contributed additional revenue. However, stiff competition in the Malaysian lubricant market and lower production of certain Perodua and Proton models have adversely affected demand for its products.
Despite the higher revenue, profit for the second quarter of 2012 reduced by RM3.7 million to RM0.07 million mainly as a result of foreign currency exchange losses suffered by its subsidiaries in India from the weak Indian Rupee against the US dollar. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Board expects the Group to exceed its internal targets set for 2012.
The Board is pleased to declare an interim single-tier dividend of 20 percent of 10.0 sen (2011 – 20 percent or 10.0 sen) per share of RM0.50 each, amounting to a net dividend payable of approximately RM116.8 million (2011 – RM116.8) for the year ending 31 December 2012, to be paid on 8 October 2012
