KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd
's industrial business continues to drive the group's performance, while UMW Holdings Bhd's contribution helped to boost the bottomline.
In the third quarter ended March 31, 2024, Sime Darby recorded a net profit of RM340mil, up from RM240mil in the year-ago quarter, which translates to an earnings per share of five sen from 3.5 sen previously.
The group reported revenue of RM18.84bil against RM11.53bil in the comparative quarter.
"We ended the quarter on a high note, with the industrial division continuing to be the keydriver, leveraging strong prospects in the mining sector particularly in Australasia.
"This goes to show that the mining business in Australia is still very strong and continues to be profitable," said group CEO Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson in a statement.
Noting the first full-quarter contribution of UMW to the group, he added that the integration of the group into Sime Darby remains a key priority.
UMW's pre-tax profit came in at RM2632mil during the quarter, largely owing to its automotive business.
In Sime Darby's motors division, the group said overall pre-tax profit increased 5.9% to RM180mil in 3QFY24, driven by Malaysian operations, while Singapore operations also more than doubled due to higher electric vehicle sales.
"The strong performance by the group’s Malaysia and Singapore operations helped to cushion the impact of low vehicle margins at the motors division’s Chinese Mainland operations," it said.
Cumulatively, Sime Darby posted a net profit of RM3.22bil over the nine-month period to March 31, as compared to RM836mil in the year-ago period, largely attributed to the RM2bil gain on the disposal of Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care.
Revenue in 9MFY24 rose to RM48.34bil from RM35bil in 9MFY23.
