Proton Commerce Sdn Bhd (PCSB), a joint venture between Proton Edar Sdn Bhd and CIMB Bank Bhd, is projecting a growth in its hire purchase loan portfolio for the rest of 2020. PCSB was incorporated in 2003 and acts as the in-house financier for automotive hire purchase by offering competitive rates and fast approval processes to Proton buyers.
Other growth factors for the last quarter of 2020 include the recent reduction in the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by Bank Negara which allows PCSB to offer more competitive prices to customers. PCSB is currently offering interest rates from as low as 2.19% for the Proton X70, which is on par or lower than other HP providers.
For the last three financial years i.e. FY2017 – FY2019, the hire purchase sector has seen growth in the 1.0% – 2.0% region. This is largely in tune with the Total Industry Volume (TIV) of the automotive market in Malaysia. However, automotive sales had slowed in the first half of 2020, contracting by about 1% year-on-year, due to manufacturing and consumption disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Despite this, PCSB’s loan assets maintained a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21% from FY2018 to the current period. In July 2020, PCSB had registered a historical high in its disbursement value and number of contracts that accounted for approximately 15% of overall Proton sales for the month. This is mainly attributed to the competitive rates offered by PCSB as well as the rebound in Proton car sales after the Movement Control Order (MCO) period. As at 31 August 2020, PCSB had surpassed its year-to-date volume of 2019.
Keyword: Proton Commerce Projects Growth In Loan Portfolio For Rest Of 2020