DRB-Hicom shares were at a day’s high of RM2.60 yesterday, up 6.6%, after its 34%-owned associate Honda Malaysia said that 2017 vehicle sales rose 19% year-on-year to 109.5k. The shares shaved some of its gains to close at RM2.53 at the end of the day, up 3.7%.
Partnership With Geely
DRB-Hicom’s share price was up since the start of the year. It ended last year at RM1.83 (29 Dec 2017) and gained a whopping 30% week-on-week to close at RM2.38 last Friday (5 Jan 2018). The share price was up further for two consecutive days this week.
In addition to the latest announcement by Honda Malaysia on the rise of 2017 vehicle sales, the recent increase in share price could be attributed to confidence from investors that DRB-Hicom’s subsidiary, Proton Holdings (Proton), can finally turn around in 2018 with Chinese strategic partner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely) on board (theStar, 6 Jan 2018). In September last year, Geely completed its acquisition of a 49.9% stake in Proton. This acquisition by Geely, who owns Volvo, had also boosted DRB-Hicom’s share price at the time of announcement.
Source: Macquarie Research - 10 Jan 2018
