KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 – Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) expects MR D.I.Y. Group (M) Bhd’s outlook to remain positive with expectations for earnings tailwinds from the appreciation in the ringgit versus the yuan.
This is also due the potential for further margin accretion from lower product cost if the United States-China trade tensions escalate, and the company benefitting from consumer down-trading.
“We believe that MR D.I.Y. also has more breathing room to undertake added product promotions to boost sales volume if it manages to negotiate for better product prices with its Chinese suppliers,” it said.
Maybank IB also expects MR D.I.Y. to ramp up store openings in the second half of 2025 (2H 2025) to meet its financial year 2025 (FY2025) new store opening target of 190 stores, particularly in East Malaysia and KKV stores.
“Separately, MR D.I.Y. only has about 20 stores equipped with SARA/MyKasih terminals as at end-August 2025.
“We understand that the management is still evaluating whether this adds to overall sales volume and store footfall before aggressively adding cash aid touchpoints to its store network,” it added.
Therefore, the investment bank made no changes to the company’s earnings estimates while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating with an unchanged target price (TP) of RM1.85 per share.
Meanwhile, CGS International Securities Malaysia Sdn Bhd believes that MR D.I.Y.’s same-store sales growth is forecast to return to positive in 2H 2025 as better consumer sentiment from higher disposable income measures should help lift sales and amplified by year-on-year growth due to the low base effect in 2H 2024.
“We retain our ‘Add’ call with TP of RM2.09 per share,” it said.
In a Bursa Malaysia filing yesterday, MR D.I.Y. announced a net profit of RM158.58 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2025 from RM155.21 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter under review rose by 1.2 per cent at RM1.21 billion versus RM1.2 billion previously.
The group attributed the better performance to the contributions from new stores.
At lunch break today, MR D.I.Y.’s shares fell 4.0 sen to RM1.56, after hitting a high of RM1.63 in early trade.
