The Proton Saga (part 2)
Art Harun
Proton Holdings Berhad, at group level, made a loss of RM338 million for the financial year ended 31.3.2009.
That means, from April Fool's day in 2008 till the eve of April Fool's day this year, Proton lost RM338 million. The full report can be read at The Malaysian Insider.
Proton earned a total of RM6.49 billion in that period. That is an increase of RM865 million over its earning for the previous financial year (2007/08). Although Proton earned less in 2007/08, it managed to post a profit of RM144 million in the same period. Quite obviously, Proton's operating costs have gone up in 2008/09 as compared to 2007/08.
In addition, Proton sold more cars in 2008/09 than in 2007/08. In 2008/09, Proton sold 156,845 cars while in 2007/08, it only sold 139,952 cars.
Let's analyse the figures.
