MARC Ratings has affirmed its rating of A/Stable on Singer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd’s (Singer) RM300.0 million Medium-Term Notes (MTN) Programme.
The rating reflects Singer’s strong position as an established domestic provider of consumer durable and motorcycle credit sales and hire-purchase financing, supported by a long operating history and high profit margins. These strengths are tempered by asset quality risks and ongoing collection costs from a relatively high delinquency rate, although robust financing margins mitigate this. Singer is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berjaya Retail Sdn Bhd, ultimately owned by Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun.
Singer primarily sells motorcycles and durable consumer products on credit and cash, operating a broad network of ~265 outlets across small towns and rural areas nationwide. Its distribution is supported by ~1,200 sales associates, ~600 independent merchants, and an online channel, serving customers with limited access to mainstream financing.
In 2024, Singer’s credit receivables declined slightly by RM2.9 million (0.3%) to RM970.6 million, following growth of RM95.4 million (+10.9%) in 2023. This mainly reflects more selective lending and tighter approval as centralised credit processing expanded to branches with weaker asset quality, lowering approval rates.
Singer’s focus on financing a niche, underserved market exposes it to elevated credit risk, reflected in a historically high gross impaired credit receivables ratio. Strong financing margins have helped cushion asset quality pressures. Loss provisioning has also improved, with coverage for receivables over three months delinquent rising to 89.2% in 1H2025 (2023: 73.6%).
In 2024, Singer posted pre-tax loss of RM58.6 million versus RM72.3 million profit in 2023. Lower revenue of RM445.0 million (2023: RM480.6 million) and higher impairment allowances of RM200.9 million (2023: RM94.7 million) to cover more deeply delinquent accounts weighed on results. In 1H2025, Singer returned to profitability with pre-tax profit of RM12.5 million and a strong operating margin of 18.9% (2023: 18.8%). The group expects full-year 2025 performance to reflect receivables contraction but improved credit costs.
As a non-bank financial institution, Singer primarily funds its financing operations through bank facilities and debt issuances. As of end-October 2025, it had a RM250.3 million credit limit (87.5% drawn), RM31.3 million unutilised lines, and RM121.2 million available under its rated MTN programme to support operations and capital needs.
As of 1H2025, the group’s debt-to-equity ratio was higher at 0.8x, partly due to a reduced equity base of RM659.0 million in 2024 (2023: RM757.0 million) following a loss primarily attributed to higher impairment allowances made in 2024. The ratio, however, remains relatively low compared with selected peers in the non-bank finance sector, whose ratios generally fall between 3.0x and 4.0x.