Malaysia's Proton sees second quarter loss of 19.7 per cent

November 25, 2010 | 21:56

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A fall in sales sent profits at Malaysian carmaker Proton tumbling almost 20 per cent in the second quarter, the firm said Thursday, but said it was confident in the future after launching a new model.

Proton said net profits for the three months to the end of September were 65.9 million ringgit ($21.04 million), down from 82.1 million ringgit in the same period last year.

However, in a statement to the stock exchange, the company said revenues for the quarter rose 6.7 per cent to 2.24 billion ringgit compared with 2.10 billion ringgit for the same period last year.

It added that it was upbeat that the launch this month of the Inspira, a new mid-sized sedan, would help it achieve strong sales over the coming quarters.

"Despite the challenging environment, with the encouraging response from the successful launch of Inspira coupled with execution of various marketing initiatives, Proton expects to grow domestic sales volume and market share," company chairman Mohammad Nadzmi Mohamad Salleh said in a statement.

"This is envisaged to further improve the Group’s profitability and our market share in the domestic market," he added.

Proton was formed in 1983 by then-premier Mahathir Mohamad as part of an ambitious national industrialisation plan. But it has suffered from a reputation for unimaginative models and poor quality.

It has been searching for a collaborator in a bid to penetrate foreign markets and develop attractive models to compete with growing competition from Japanese, European and Korean carmakers in its domestic market.

AFP

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