Berjaya Corp’s 1Q net loss narrows q-o-q as business activity picks up post-MCO

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) registered a net loss of RM58.95 million in the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2020 (1QFY21), narrowing from a net loss of RM345.81 million in the previous quarter.

This was contributed by better revenue of RM1.94 billion in the quarter under review, a jump of 126% from RM859.02 million a quarter ago as its business resumed operations in 1QF21 after experiencing low activity during the peak of the restricted Movement Control Order from March to May.

Higher revenue was recorded across all its major business segments namely consumer products and services, restaurants, property development, hotels and resorts, as well as gaming operations.

Year-on-year, the group’s net loss widened slightly from RM54.23 million while revenue fell 6% from RM2.07 billion last year.

Looking ahead, BCorp said it does expect the performance of business operations for the remaining quarters of the financial year ending June 30, 2021 to remain challenging in light of the uncertainty that still persists with the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is cautiously optimistic that the operating results of its restaurant and cafe business segment will be satisfactory. However it believes the property development business segment is expected to be impacted by slower property sales mainly due to the expected liquidity squeeze arising from the contraction of the economy in the short term.

“The tourism industry was about to kickstart its recovery with domestic tourism after the initial lifting of domestic travel restrictions although international travels are still restricted.

“However, the occurrence of the second and third Covid-19 waves have again dampened the recovery rate of the tourism industry. As such, the directors expect the occupancy rates and the revenue from events at the hotels, resorts, clubs and recreation business segments to remain low,” it said in a filing yesterday.

Meanwhile, the number forecast operator (NFO) business was able to resume full operations during the current quarter under review amidst the "new normal" environment with the necessary health and safety measures in place.

As such BCorp says it is cautiously optimistic that it will gradually recover with the fairly resilient nature of the NFO business as noted in the past economic crises and turbulent periods.

“The directors are confident that Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd will continue to maintain its market share in the NFO business for the remaining quarters for the financial year ending June 30, 2021,” it said.

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