Bermaz Auto full-year results beat expectations, says PublicInvest

KUALA LUMPUR: PublicInvestment Research said Bermaz Auto Bhd's full year FY18 net profit of RM140.1mil was slightly above its expectations, but within consensus, due to better-than-expected contribution from its associate Mazda Malaysia.

The research house maintained its earnings forecasts and outperform call on the counter with a higher target price of RM2.57.

"For full year FY18, revenue jumped by 20.1% YoY to RM2.0bn compared to RM1.6bn in FY17 due to higher sales volume (+12% YoY) and favourable sales mix recorded in both domestic and the Philippine operations," said PublicInvest.

Mazada had seen an increase in production volume for the new CX-5 model, which rose 40% on year, for both the export and imports markets. 

There was also higher sales recorded by the domestic operations while the ringgit strengthened against the yen, although this was partially offset by lower contribution from the Philippines operation due to the weakening peso.