PETALING JAYA: Bermaz Auto Bhd
(BAuto) is gearing up to broaden the Mazda vehicle range as a mass-premium segment remains under pressure from global overcapacity and competitively priced Chinese brands.
Maybank Investment Bank Research (Maybank IB), in a note, said BAuto is working to broaden Mazda’s range into the mass-to-premium segment with upcoming models.
These include a B-segment subcompact sports utility vehicle targeting a completely knocked down (CKD) launch in financial year 2028 (FY28), while the CX-80 and the new CX-5 CKD are slated for FY27.
Mazda’s CX-60 and Mazda 3 have been well received, with 500 and 1,700 bookings, respectively, lifting total Mazda Malaysia bookings to about 3,000 units.
However, the Kia vehicles remain challenging, with efforts focused on clearing Carnival and Sportage inventories, while BAuto seeks stronger principal support and refreshed model introductions.
Apart from bolstering its launch pipeline with new Mazda models, the research house said BAuto is also building long-term growth with the XPeng, amid the mass-premium segment remaining under pressure from global overcapacity and competitively priced Chinese brands.
Maybank IB said dividend visibility remains strong, with BAuto recently receiving about RM6.3mil from Mazda Malaysia (50% dividend payout ratio on RM42mil FY25 profit).
Mazda Malaysia is expected to pay half-yearly dividends, ensuring regular inflows, it noted.
“While about RM460mil cash will largely be retained at the associate level, BAuto’s share (holding company plus associate’s share of net cash) still translates to more than RM300mil (about 40% of market cap).
Furthermore, Maybank IB is maintaining its “hold” call on the company with a target price of RM0.68.
BAuto, which is principally involved in the distribution of Mazda, Kia and Xpeng vehicles, saw its net profit for the first quarter ended July 31, 2025 plunge to RM8.28mil from RM70.22mil in the previous corresponding period.
Revenue, meanwhile, dropped to RM491.28mil from RM846.18mil a year earlier.
In a filing on its first-quarter financial performance announced last week, the company said group revenue declined by RM354.9mil (down 41.9%) largely due to lower sales volume in the domestic operations for certain Mazda and Kia vehicles, which are nearing the end of their product life cycles and aggravated by the highly competitive market conditions such as the influx of Chinese-made vehicles with their low pricing strategy.
BAuto declared a single-tier first interim dividend of 0.75 sen per share, to be paid on Nov 5.
