• Distributive trade sales expanded by 19.9% yoy in May

• Growth recorded in all wholesale and retail sub-sectors

• Global retail sales stumble as inflation bites

• Consumer spending is expanding strongly

Malaysia’s distributive trade sales set a new record again in May with a growth of 19.9% YoY to register RM129.8bn, the biggest gain in a year. The expansion was the eight successive months of increase and the highest growth since June 2021. This expansion was attributed to retail sales which continued expanding strongly by 29.9% YoY. Similarly, sales growth of motor vehicles and wholesale grew by double digits of 20.1% YoY and +11.7% YoY.

Sales of retail trade rose RM13.0bn or 29.9% to record RM56.3bn. Among the groups that contributed to this expansion were retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores (54.6%), retail sale in non-specialised stores (36.3%), and retail sale of other goods in specialised stores (30.8%). Meanwhile, wholesale trade generated sales value of RM59.6bn in May with a growth of 11.7% YoY. This increase was attributed to wholesale of household goods which increased 22.1% or RM2.2bn to RM11.9bn. This was followed by wholesale of agricultural raw materials & live animals 17.7%, and wholesale on a fee or contract basis 12.0%.

Sales value of motor vehicles sub-sector went up by 20.1% YoY to RM13.9bn in May. A total of 49,603 new vehicles were delivered to buyers in May. This is a drop of 6,610 units from the 56,213 units sold in April, translating to a 11.8% decrease in volume. Compared to the same month in 2021, May’s sales were 5.08% (or 2,396 units) higher, while the year-to-date total for the first five months of 2022 stood at 265,656 units, ahead by 7.44% (or 18,406 units) over the 247,250 units managed during the same period last year.

On a monthly basis, the sales value of wholesale & retail trade went up by 1.4% in May following a 3.4% gain in April. Retail sales increased by 5.1% mom while wholesale trade gained marginally by 0.9%. However, sales of vehicles dropped by 9.6% during the month.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 12 Jul 2022