PETALING JAYA: Berjaya Corp Bhd’s revenue for its first quarter ended Sept 30 dipped 6.2% to RM1.94 billion, from RM2.07 billion in the corresponding quarter of last year, mainly due to the lower revenue reported by the gaming business and the hotels and resorts segment.
Consequently, pre-tax profit for the group stood at RM10.88 million, a 76.1% decline from RM45.62 million recorded previously. However, this was mitigated by the recognition of gain on disposal of Berjaya Jeju Resort Ltd amounting to about RM65.8 million, following the completion of the JDC Lawsuit settlement on Aug 28, 2020.
According to its Bursa disclosure, the group’s gaming business, Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd saw a lower revenue due to a slower than expected economic recovery and weaker consumer sentiment following the resumption of operations after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
Meanwhile, its hotels & resorts segment was severely affected by the international border closures and travel restrictions and reported lower revenue.
Berjaya’s marketing of consumer products and services segment posted a higher revenue on the back of an increased new car sales from H.R. Owen Plc under its motor distribution business as a result of the backlog delivery fulfilment after the earlier pandemic lockdown. However, the performance was dampened by a decline in revenue from its telecommunication and retail distribution businesses.
Its restaurants and cafes segment reported a marginal increase in revenue, which indicated a recovery to pre-pandemic levels, while the group’s property investment and development segment registered higher revenue from its local high-end projects.
Looking ahead, the group pointed out that its number forecast operator (NFO) was able to resume full operations in Q1’21 amid the “new normal” environment with the necessary health and safety measures in place.
Berjaya’s directors said they are cautiously optimistic for its NFO business due to its fairly resilient nature as evidenced by the past economic crisis and turbulent period. It is confident that Sports Toto Malaysia will retain its market share for the remainder of the financial year.
Berjaya’s property development segment is expected to be affected by the slower property sales from the expected liquidity squeeze arising from the contraction of the economy in the short term.
On the other hand, the group opined that the second and third waves have dampened the prospects of recovery for the tourism industry which was about to recover, and as such its board expects the revenue from its hotels, resorts, clubs and recreation business segments to remain low.
The restaurants and cafes business is expected to remain satisfactory for the quarters ahead as a majority of economic activities are still allowed with certain measures.
Overall, Berjaya expects its business operations for the remaining quarters of FY21 to remain challenging.
