At the closing bell, the shares pared its gains to close at 96 sen, 3.24% or three sen higher compared to yesterday’s close. Its market capitalisation stood at RM210.37 million.

The counter was Bursa Malaysia’s 11th most actively traded stock today, with 38.3 million shares exchanging hands.

Yesterday, EPMB announced in a Bursa filing that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China’s BAIC International Development Co Ltd to work on the local production of its sports utility vehicles (SUVs), namely the BJ40P and X55II models.

The joint development also involves working on future right-hand drive (RHD) internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs).

Both companies will work on creating BAIC-branded RHD EVs tailored to meet the demands of the Malaysian market and other right-hand drive markets in the region.

BAIC is a subsidiary of Beijing Automotive Group Co Ltd, which is a prominent Fortune Global 500 company and one of China’s largest automakers.

On May 8, EPMB announced that the MoU between its wholly-owned subsidiary EP 4Wheeler Sdn Bhd and Johor-based Cahaya Bumi Sdn Bhd had lapsed.

The partnership involved a venture into the domain of new and used imported car distribution, with a primary focus on EVs and their localisation activities.

EPMB recorded a net profit of RM3.55 million in its first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (Q1 FY2023), approximately nine times higher compared to RM386,000 in Q1 FY2022.

Revenue rose 55.1% to RM152.12 million in Q1 FY2023 from RM98.10 million in the same quarter a year ago.