KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — MBM Resources Bhd’s net profit jumped 64.4 per cent to RM281.55 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022) from RM171.22 million in the same period a year ago, resulting from higher volume in both motor trading and auto parts manufacturing divisions.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the automotive company said its revenue increased by 51 per cent to RM2.31 billion from RM1.53 billion previously.

"Both our motor trading and auto parts manufacturing divisions achieved record-high revenue riding on among others, the sales tax exemption, higher vehicle supplies, improved operating conditions, and product demand.

"The corresponding period in 2021 was also not a comparable year with the movement control order (MCO) 3.0 full lockdown implemented from June 1, 2021 to mid-August 2021,” MBM said.

Meanwhile, for the fourth quarter (4Q) ended Dec 31, 2022, MBM reported a lower net profit of RM57.41 million from RM112.81 million a year ago, mainly attributed to higher operating costs in the current quarter and significant tax savings that were recognised by associate, Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) in 4Q of 2021.

However, its 4Q revenue rose by 16.5 per cent to RM651.40 million from RM558.92 million previously.

The group said, operationally, Perodua achieved its best performance with a 48.2 per cent increase in 2022 sales volume to 282,019 units against 190,291 units in 2021.

"Secondly, our operating units also experienced higher operating costs such as rising raw material costs, the revision of minimum wage to RM1,500 per month and higher rewards to our employees in tandem with our exceptional full-year performance which gave us the highest profit ever recorded — have all contributed to the slightly lower results against the corresponding quarter in 2021,” MBM said.

The company has declared a special dividend of 15 sen per ordinary share, alongside a second interim dividend of 6.0 sen per ordinary share for FY2022, bringing total dividend to 21 sen per ordinary share.

"The ex-date and payment dates of the dividends will be on March 6, 2023 and March 21, 2023, respectively,” it added. — Bernama