Shah Alam, 20 May 2010 – The UMW Group announced today that its Group profit before taxation for the first quarter ended 31 March 2010 of RM305.1 million improved over the RM123.7 million registered in the same quarter of 2009 by more than 100% or an increase of RM181.4 million. The significant profit increase was due to higher sales volume and improved margins from favourable model mix achieved by our Automotive segment.

As a result, the net profit attributable to the owners of the Company for the first quarter of 2010 surged from the RM66.0 million registered in the same quarter of 2009 to RM132.9 million, an increase of RM66.9 million.

Group revenue of RM3,033.2 million for the first quarter ended 31 March 2010 was RM683.4 million or 29.1% higher than the RM2,349.8 million achieved in the preceding year’s corresponding quarter. The increase was due to the strong economic growth and improved consumer and business confidence which resulted in higher demand for our Toyota vehicles, industrial and heavy equipment as well as automotive parts.

Total Toyota and Perodua vehicle sales of 70,550 units represented 47.9% of the total industry volume of 147,415 units reported by the Malaysian Automotive Association for the quarter ended 31 March 2010.

Group revenue of RM3,033.2 million for the first quarter ended 31 March 2010 was higher than the RM2,969.4 million registered for the fourth quarter of 2009 by RM63.8 million or 2.1%. Greater demand for UMW’s heavy and industrial equipment mainly accounted for the revenue improvement.

Group profit before taxation of RM305.1 million for the first quarter ended 31 March 2010 was RM67.9 million or 28.6% above the RM237.2 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009. This significant increase was the result of improved margins achieved by its Automotive segment.

Moving forward.
The recent trade data indicated that economic growth for the year 2010 could be much stronger than expected. All major sectors recorded robust expansion and both exports and imports had shown steady gains in the first quarter of 2010, a definite sign that the economy is on the path to a strong recovery. In view of the regional economic recovery and higher commodity prices, the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research has revised its GDP growth forecast for the year 2010 from 3.7% to 5.2%.

Dato’ Abdul Halim Harun, President & Group CEO of UMW Holdings Berhad said, “Our Automotive segment is poised for a strong growth for the year 2010 based on a progressively stronger momentum of recovery since the second half of 2009. We are confident of achieving the 2010 sales target of our Automotive segment, which aims to sell a total of 264,000 Toyota and Perodua cars in 2010, or 48% of the forecasted total industry volume of 550,000 cars”.

Both the Equipment and Manufacturing & Engineering segments are expected to benefit from the strengthening domestic and external demand, supported by improving regional economic conditions, particularly in the Asian region where UMW has presence.

Dato’ Abdul Halim also added that the Oil & Gas segment is expected to turn around and make positive contributions to Group profits in the second half of the year when some of its greenfield investments commence operations and generate income.

Based on the current positive economic outlook, the Board is optimistic that the financial performance of the Group may exceed its internal revenue and profit targets set for the financial year ending 31 December 2010.