KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd
has no immediate plans to reduce vehicle prices despite the strengthening ringgit but is instead opting to manage margins while maintaining competitiveness, said its group chief executive officer, Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson.
He said pricing adjustments currently remain limited to normal promotional discounts, as the group does not intend to make structural price changes, given that foreign exchange movements are viewed as temporary and could reverse.
"At this point, we are not adjusting our car prices apart from normal discounts to maintain competitiveness,” he said in a media briefing following the announcement of the group’s financial results for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2025 (2Q FY2026), here today.
Meanwhile, Jeffri Salim said the stronger ringgit has negatively affected profit translation due to Sime Darby’s sizeable overseas earnings exposure, particularly from Australia, China and Singapore.
"From a profit perspective, (the stronger ringgit is) not so good because so much of our profit is based out of Australia, China and Singapore. So it translates back to fewer ringgit, but despite that, overall performance has been pretty okay,” he added.
Jeffri Salim said that operationally, the automotive division recorded encouraging regional contributions from Hong Kong and Taiwan, while China operations improved during the quarter following cost rationalisation efforts and favourable BMW rebates, although market conditions there remain volatile.
In a Bursa Malaysia filing, Sime Darby said its net profit for 2Q FY2026 rose to RM431 million from RM305 million a year earlier, driven by higher profit from its motors division and lower finance costs. However, the gains were partly offset by lower profits from the industrial division.
Revenue for 2Q FY2026 increased to RM18.97 billion compared with RM17.72 billion reported in the previous corresponding quarter.
For the six months ended Dec 31, 2025, Sime Darby recorded RM786 million in net profit on the back of RM37 billion in revenue and declared an interim dividend of three sen per share.
Looking ahead, Jeffri Salim said Sime Darby anticipates its FY2026 performance to be broadly comparable with the previous year, excluding one-off disposals, barring unforeseen circumstances.
On the domestic demand outlook, he said Sime Darby broadly expects Malaysia’s total industry volume to align with the Malaysian Automotive Association’s forecast of around 790,000 units, albeit with a slightly conservative view.
"Singapore continued to be the largest revenue contributor within the motor division, supported by strong sales momentum from BYD, where we act as dealer-distributor, alongside positive BMW performance in the market.
"While for our industrial segment, we remain optimistic about Australia’s mining sector over the long term, particularly iron ore, coal and copper demand, despite softer parts and services revenue recently as miners deferred maintenance to preserve cash,” he said. - Bernama
