KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): Berjaya Corp Bhd (KL:BJCORP) kicked off its new financial year with another quarterly loss dragged by its retail and services businesses, but said it is optimistic that some of the units will improve.
Net loss for the three months ended Sept 30, 2024 (1QFY2025) was RM167.85 million, the consumer conglomerate said in an exchange filing. That compares to a net profit of RM111.08 million in the same quarter last year, and the preceding quarter’s RM147.84 million net loss.
Quarterly revenue dropped 13.29% year-on-year to RM2.23 billion, and was down nearly 10% quarter-on-quarter.
Moving forward, the group expects that its domestic business segments will improve, supported by strong consumer spending and improved tourism activities. It, however, reiterated that the closure of lottery outlets in Kedah and Perlis will result in the proliferation of illegal operators in the two states.
In terms of segments, the non-food retail segment recorded losses during 1QFY2025, amid lower revenue and margin compression, due to intense price competition caused by an oversupply of cars from certain manufacturers.
In particular, the group's luxury car unit HR Owen plc suffered foreign exchange losses, coupled with lower new car sales. The food retail division, meanwhile, reported a lower revenue and a pre-tax loss, mainly due to the prolonged impact of the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Berjaya Food Bhd (KL:BJFOOD), which mainly relies on Starbucks for most of its revenue, reported its fourth consecutive quarter of losses, amid widespread boycotts of brands supporting or perceived to be linked to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The property segment also recorded a lower revenue and a pre-tax loss in the latest quarter, mainly due to the completion of The Tropika project in Bukit Jalil in the preceding quarter, and lower sales of residence units of an overseas project.
A lower number of draws — 40 draws compared with 42 last year — as well as a decline in average sales per draw following smaller accumulated jackpot prizes in the latest quarter also dragged on the group's gaming business.
Shares of Berjaya Corp finished down half a sen or 1.61% at 30.5 sen on Thursday, valuing the group at RM1.82 billion ahead of the results announcement.