BCorp unveils three-year strategic plan to streamline business, unlock value

KUALA LUMPUR (June 15): Berjaya Corp Bhd's (BCorp) newly appointed group chief executive officer Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed has revealed a three-year strategic plan to transform the conglomerate back towards profitability.

At a virtual press conference today, Jalil underlined key initiatives of the plan, including to recategorise and streamline existing operations, institutionalise and monitor performance, and ultimately to unlock value in the group.

The group will recategorise its businesses by July, from seven reporting segments currently into five key segments: retail, food and beverages, property, hospitality, and services (which will house the group's gaming unit and financial technology unit).

The headline targets include halving group debt level from RM5.04 billion to around RM2.5 billion in the next three years, partly through the divestment of RM2 billion-RM5 billion worth of assets or businesses in the next two to five years.

Dividend policy will also be set in place for BCorp's subsidiaries, in order to structure a consistent stream of income for the investment holding parent instead of divestment gains usually practised previously.

"BCorp is undervalued because despite having all the great brands, the way the group is organised makes it difficult to pinpoint and value the group," Jalil said.

"The other objective is to ensure that the companies are self-sustainable, and be able to compete outside of the Berjaya Group. We will also address the cross-holdings," he added.

His other mandate to institutionalise the entity is in the sense that operations should be able to continue even if the individuals in the company are replaced.

While being a big company with assets totalling RM20 billion, and huge global footprint across more than a dozen sectors, BCorp has lost its shine among investors over the years. It is en route to its fourth year in the red, and has not paid any dividend since 2015.

The group's other listed entities include Berjaya Assets Bhd, Berjaya Food Bhd, Berjaya Land Bhd, Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd and 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd.

BCorp's share price closed at 33.5 sen, just one-fifth of its value in 2010, and less than 0.2 times its net book value of RM1.78.

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