JC&C's profit down 30% to $414.23m in H1

Astra saw most of its business divisions’ net income fall.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage (JC&C) saw its profit attributable to shareholders crash 30% YoY to $414.23m in H1 from $587.71m in H1 2019, an SGX filing revealed. Likewise, revenue also dropped 28% YoY to $9.09b from $12.61b over the same period.

Underlying profit attributable to shareholders also plunged 66% YoY to $190m from $560.4m. This overall profit figure is said to reflect a $258.86m (US$188m) gain on the disposal of Astra’s investment in Permata Bank, which was partly offset by unrealised fair value losses related to non-current investments.

Astra contributed $235.4m (US$171m) to JC&C’s underlying profit. But excluding the gain on the disposal of its investment in Permata Bank, Astra reported a profit equivalent to $512.08m (US$372m) under Indonesian accounting standards, which is 44% YoY lower in its local currency terms. This was mainly due to significantly lower contributions from its automotive, financial services and heavy equipment and mining businesses, partially offset by its agribusiness.

For its automotive business, net income fell by 79% YoY to $66.07 (US$48m) in H1, no thanks to a substantial fall in sales volumes, especially in Q2. Financial services also saw its net income drop 25% YoY to $195.46m (US$142m due to increased loan loss provisions to cover higher non-performing loan losses in the consumer and heavy equipment-focused finance businesses.

Meanwhile, its heavy equipment, mining, construction and energy segment, net income nosedived 29% YoY to $220.25m (US$160m), mainly due to lower heavy equipment sales
and mining contracting volume caused by weaker coal prices.

Astra’s infrastructure and logistics division reported a net loss of $8.26m (US$6m) in H1, compared to a net profit of $8.26m (US$6m), mainly due to lower toll road revenues. Lastly, its agribusiness segment’s net income rose to $28.91m (US$21m), due to higher crude palm oil prices, especially in Q1.

JC&C’s direct motor interests contributed a loss of $412,906 (US$0.3m), compared to a profit of
$45.42m (US$33m) in the same period last year. Its Other Strategic Interests contributed a profit of $38.54m (US$28m), 58% lower than the previous year.

The board has declared an interim one-tier tax exempt dividend of $0.12 apiece for H1. The group expects the pandemic to continue to adversely impact performance for at least the rest of

2020.