PETALING JAYA: MR DIY Group (M) Bhd
will be reviewing prices of several product ranges in the coming quarters as the company deals with cost increases.
In a statement accompanying its third-quarter results yesterday, MR DIY chief executive officer Adrian Ong said the company will also optimise product mix and automate some operations.
“The implementation of the higher minimum wage policy has and will continue to impact our operating expenses, but we are confident we will be able to mitigate this with continued growth in revenue.
“It is imperative that under the current operating environment, we remain focused on optimising inventory across our retail platform and achieving cost and operational efficiencies,” he said.
In the third quarter ended Sept 30, MR DIY’s net profit rose by almost 12% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM101.18mil, bringing the basic earnings per share higher to 1.07 sen.
The stronger profitability was thanks to higher revenue, but was partially offset by a lower operating margin due to continued input cost pressures, as well as a mandatory increase in the minimum wage.
MR DIY’s revenue for the quarter increased by 25.8% y-o-y to RM966.17mil.
The growth was largely driven by a 40% increase in the transaction volume, which includes positive same store growth as well as contributions from new stores.
“The quarter saw strong revenue growth and higher transaction volume, reflecting the resilience of the business during this period of continued inflation and economic uncertainty.
“The implementation of the higher minimum wage policy has and will continue to impact our operating expenses, but we are confident we will be able to mitigate this with continued growth in revenue,” stated Ong.
MR DIY has declared a dividend of 0.5 sen per share for the third quarter, amounting to RM47.1mil.
Cumulatively, for the first nine months ended Sept 30, MR DIY’s net profit rose by 13.3% y-o-y to RM336.87mil, while revenue jumped 21.8% y-o-y to RM2.92bil.
“Revenue was mainly driven by positive contributions from new stores and higher consumer spending levels due to the festive season in the second quarter of financial year 2022 (2Q22).
“The increase also reflects the impact of lockdown measures in 2Q21 and 3Q21, which led to a temporary closure of some stores and lower overall traffic to stores,” according to the company.
Looking ahead into 2023, MR DIY aims to open at least 180 new stores across its three brands, namely, MR DIY, MR TOY and MR DOLLAR.
For the nine months ended Sept 30, the company saw a net growth of 138 stores across its three brands.
This represented an increase of approximately 15% from December 2021, with the majority being MR DIY stores.
This brings MR DIY’s total number of stores to 1,038 as at Sept 30.
The company’s store expansion programme is on track, with at least 42 stores expected to be opened across all three brands in the fourth quarter of 2022.
