Rupiah tumble hits Jardine Matheson SEA’s Astra earnings

[SINGAPORE] Holding company Jardine Matheson Southeast Asia (JMSEA) reported a mixed performance for the first nine months of 2026 in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Nov 10).

This is the group’s first performance update since divesting Cycle & Carriage, the longstanding Singapore and Malaysia automotive distributor and retailer which was sold to Indonesia’s Chandra Asri Pacific for a S$221 million gain in August.

While various of its Indonesian segments had a robust showing, the tumbling rupiah affected group performance via the exchange translation effect, JMSEA said. The company reports its financials in US dollars.

The Indonesia economy, the biggest contributor to the group’s revenue and earnings, has been in the news in recent months over the government’s economic management, confusion regarding new commodity export rules and revived concerns about the country’s sovereign credit profile.

JMSEA owns 50.1 per cent of diversified group Astra and 49.9 per cent of automotive dealership group Tunas Ridean.

In its performance update, JMSEA said Astra reported a 1 per cent dip in net profit, excluding several non-recurring charges. It said profit from automotive operations rose 8 per cent while the wholesale motorcycle market grew by 4 per cent.

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Astra’s Honda motorcycle market share remained strong at 77 per cent. The wholesale car market grew by 21 per cent while Astra’s sales increased by 13 per cent. Toyota and Daihatsu continue to maintain market leadership with Astra’s overall market share at 49 per cent.

Financial services posted 6 per cent higher earnings mainly due to larger loan portfolios, reflecting strong growth in both automotive and multipurpose financing.

Mining solutions and heavy equipment profit was down 28 per cent excluding several non-recurring charges. This was due to minimal sales from the Martabe gold mining operations as it only resumed operations in the second quarter, as well as the impact of a lower national coal production quota which saw softer demand in heavy equipment, mining services and lower coal mining volumes. Nevertheless, its performance in the third quarter has seen a recovery to achieve a year-on-year growth of 15 per cent.

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Tunas Ridean achieved “higher” car sales and profits, JMSEA said.

JMSEA is a unit of Hong Kong-based Jardine Matheson, which has a primary listing in London and a secondary listing in Singapore.

In Vietnam, it owns 26.7 per cent of diversified Truong Hai Group (Thaco), and 41.7 per cent of REE, a renewable energy and engineering company.

Thaco delivered higher profits on increased property sales. It also posted an increase in automotive sales, though margins thinned on competitive pressures. REE, the group added, posted higher earnings across most of its segments.

Shares of JMSEA closed trading 1.6 per cent or S$0.37 up at S$24.08 before the update.