UMW battles ringgit volatility; hit by higher cost and slower sales

Management team: (from left) Badrul Feisal, Asmat and Azmin at the briefing.

SHAH ALAM: UMW Holdings Bhd, which went into the red due to a loss of RM700mil from foreign exchange as well as RM337.7mil in impairment charges for its oil and gas (O&G) asset last year, is still battling the volatility of the ringgit.

President and group chief executive officer Badrul Feisal Abdul Rahim said although the company had hedged a certain percentage of its US dollar purchases until June, it would not help much to improve its earnings as car sales were weakening.