Sunsuria explores EV venture with China’s IAT Automobile

• The two parties have formed a joint venture company Sunsuria IAT (M) Sdn Bhd, which is 51%-owned by Sunsuria, while the IAT holds the remaining 49%.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 4): Property developer Sunsuria Bhd has inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China-based IAT Automobile to set up an operation base in Malaysia for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.

The MOU is part of China’s RM170 billion foreign direct investment commitments secured by Malaysia in conjunction with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to China last week.

IAT is China’s largest independent car design company, Sunsuria said. The two parties have formed a joint venture company Sunsuria IAT (M) Sdn Bhd, which is 51%-owned by Sunsuria, while the IAT holds the remaining 49%.

Under the MOU, both parties have agreed to undertake research and development (R&D) in the area of EVs and related products, and to create Malaysia’s own EV brand.

They further expect to build and develop EV innovation parks, and to jointly establish the Asean Automotive Design and Innovation Centre.

Shares in Sunsuria surged 17.5 sen or 53.03% on Monday (April 3) following news of the MOU over the weekend.  It saw 11.18 million shares traded, 23 times its 65-day average of 475,300 shares.

After jumping to 54 sen per share earlier, the counter settled at its one-year high of 50.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM452.44 million

Sunsuria said the MOU enables the company to collaborate with IAT to tap into R&D in the area of EV and related products, provide automotive education, and talent cultivation for Malaysia and Southeast Asia to enhance operational efficiency.

For the first quarter ended Dec 31, 2022 (1QFY2023), Sunsuria’s net profit fell 86.06% to RM1.06 million from RM7.6 million a year earlier, while revenue slipped 25.4% to RM78.87 million versus RM105.73 million previously.

Earnings per share declined to 0.12 sen from 0.85 sen. The company attributed the lower earnings to weaker revenue, higher sales and marketing expenses, and administrative expenses.