KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24): Sapura Energy Bhd’s (KL:SAPNRG), which posted a net loss of RM5.23 million in its second quarter ended July 31, 2024 (2QFY2025), said that its ability to win new jobs is crippled by financial constraints, while expecting more foreign exchange (forex) losses. 

In its quarterly result announcement, the Practice Note 17 company said its order book growth was constrained by limited access to working capital and bank guarantee facilities, “impacting its ability to secure two major contracts worth around RM4.5 billion”.

The group sustained an order book of RM5.9 billion, with its joint ventures holding an additional RM6.1 billion.

Sapura Energy Group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib also cautioned that more unrealised forex loss in the future given the strengthening of the ringgit.

“At the operational level, the group generally maintains a natural hedge against foreign currency exposure.

“However, at the corporate level we anticipate unrealised foreign exchange losses from existing multi-currency financing facilities, which highlights the essential need to restructure our debt portfolio to mitigate such risks. 

“We are actively collaborating with lenders and creditors to expedite this restructuring process to ensure greater stability for the group in the future,” Mohd Anuar said in a statement.

The group’s top priority is to complete the restructuring scheme to minimise the impact of prolongation on the business, he said. “We are diligently working on a comprehensive proposed restructuring scheme [PRS] together with the lenders and creditors. There are still a few moving parts that need to be ironed out”, Mohd Anuar said.

For its second quarter ended July 31, 2024 (2QFY2025), Sapura Energy incurred a net loss of RM5.23 million versus a net profit of RM42.81 million a year ago, despite higher revenue generated in the quarter.

While revenue grew 5.72% to RM1.21 billion from RM1.14 billion previously, it was not enough to offset the lower share of profit from associates and joint ventures, and foreign exchange losses totalled at RM106.11 million against net forex gain of RM134.46 million a year ago. 

The share of profit from associates and joint ventures dropped 37% to RM95.29 million in 2QFY2025, from RM151.51 million previously due to assets held for sale.

The quarterly net loss was also due to higher tax expenses of RM38.95 million, up 44.4% from RM26.97 million, Sapura Energy’s bourse filing showed. Loss per share stood at 0.03 sen in 2QFY2025  versus earnings per share of 0.27 sen in 2QFY2024.

As at end-July 2025, the group’s borrowings stood at RM10.94 billion, trade and other payables at RM5.36 billion, and accumulated loss at RM17.24 billion.

For the first half of FY2025, its net profit fell almost two-thirds to RM76.9 million, from RM188.89 million a year before, while its revenue expanded by 13.85% to RM2.38 billion, from RM2.09 billion.  

The group did not recommend any dividend for 2QFY2025. It last paid a dividend of half a sen per share in 2019.

Shares in Sapura Energy finished unchanged at four sen on valuing the group at RM735 million.