KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd posted its first-ever quarterly loss since listing, with a net loss of RM17.42 million in its fourth financial quarter ended March 31, 2022 (4QFY22) compared to a net profit of RM5.9 million a year ago.

Loss per share came in at 28.65 sen for 4QFY22 compared with an earnings per share of 9.71 sen for 4QFY21.

In a bourse filing on Thursday (May 26), Ajinomoto blamed the weak quarterly performance on higher price of key raw materials, depreciation, computer software and hardware maintenance costs and other administration expenses.

It made losses in the current quarter even as revenue rose 5% year-on-year to RM125.37 million from RM119.4 million in 4QFY21, supported by higher sales volume and selling prices which improved its consumer business performance.

Higher costs also dragged Ajinomoto’s net profit for the full-year ended March 31, 2022 (FY22) to RM16.7 million, down 63.5% from RM46.5 million in the previous year. This was despite a 9.38% increase in full-year revenue to RM484.68 million from RM443.12 million.

It was its weakest results since FY07, when it booked a net profit of RM14.35 million on revenue of RM190.63 million.

While the food and beverages sector recovery is expected from the transition to Covid-19 endemic phase, supply chain disruptions coupled with commodity price rise due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict have pushed up transport and material costs.

“Another threat faced globally is spiraling inflation. These challenging conditions have serious cost implications which put pressure on profits,” it said.

“Management will continue to take appropriate action to mitigate the impact of these challenges, including reviewing our marketing, sales and pricing strategy promptly to adjust to market conditions,” it added.

Shares of Ajinomoto slipped four sen or 0.29% to close at RM13.70 on Thursday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM832.94 million.