KUALA LUMPUR: After posting improved performance in the second quarter of the financial year 2022, Bermaz Auto Bhd may catch a further tailwind in the form of an extension of the sales and service tax (SST).

       In the recently concluded quarter, Bermaz Auto posted core net profit of RM26mil, which was 5% higher year-on-year, despite a 19.3% drop in revenue.

       Core net profit for the first six months of the financial year was RM36.3mil, which according to TA Securities Research, represented 26% and 28% of its and consensus full-year estimates.

       The earnings results did not fall in line with TA Securities’ expectation as it anticipated stronger earnings in the second half.

       It said Bermaz Auto will ride on the extended waiver of the sales tax under the Penjana plan until June 30, 2022, as the reopening of business post-nationwide lockdown and the resumption of manufacturing activities will help to improve sales volume moving forward.

       “The effective rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programmes would bode well for car sales too.

       “It will be enhanced by other positive drivers such as economic recovery, accomodative interest rate environment and launches of new models,” said the research firm.

       TA Securities also noted that Bermaz Auto has also launched aggressive promotional campaigns to drive a better sales performance over the remainder of the year.

       Given Bermaz Auto’s share price 4.5% decline in share price over the past one month, the brokerage forecasts a total potential upside of more than 12%.

       It upgraded the stock to “buy” from “hold” with an unchanged target price of RM1.70.

       Meanwhile, Kenanga Research also expects stronger sales from Bermaz Auto in the coming quarters on the back of its new launches, including the highly anticipated electric vehicle variant of MX-30 in the second half of 2022. It said the group’s first half profit after tax and minority interests of RM36.3mil came to 31% of its full-year estimate, which was within its expectations due to the stronger performance moving forward.

       Kenanga upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “market perform” previously with an unchanged target price of RM1.65.