KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 20): Sports Toto Bhd’s (KL:SPTOTO) net profit for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2024 (1QFY2025) fell 31.3% to RM41.33 million, from RM60.17 million a year ago, dragged by lower lottery sales as well as lower sales performance and forex loss impact arising from its UK luxury car unit, HR Owen plc.
The group’s quarterly revenue fell 9.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.44 billion from RM1.59 billion, as its lottery unit saw a decrease in the number of draws to 40 from 42 previously, and its luxury car unit saw lower sales.
The group has declared a first interim dividend of two sen per share for 1QFY2025, similar to last year. The dividend payment date is Jan 17, 2025.
STM Lottery Sdn Bhd’s net profit fell 5.4% y-o-y to RM91.23 million from RM96.46 million, while revenue dropped 9.5% to RM680.91 million from RM752.04 million. On top of a decline in the number of lottery draws, the division was also hit by lower average sales per draw.
HR Owen, the group’s car dealership unit, turned in a net loss of RM4.98 million in 1QFY2025 from a net profit of RM9.92 million a year ago, as the unit saw its revenue fell 8.3% to RM742.96 million from RM810.58 million. The division was also impacted by margin compression following the intense price competition as well as forex loss.
Sports Toto has been facing challenges this year, as a number of its outlets in Kedah and Perlis were closed down by the local authorities. The group said the closure of legal number forecast operator outlets in the states will result in the proliferation of illegal operators in these underserved areas.
“Sports Toto is hopeful that the legal due process will prevail, thus allowing STM Lottery to re-establish its presence in these states,” it said.
Nevertheless, Sports Toto said it is cautiously optimistic that the group’s business will remain stable for the remaining quarters in FY2025.
Shares in Sports Toto closed two sen or 1.3% higher at RM1.57 on Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.12 billion. Year to date, the stock has risen 4.7%.