This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 29, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) fell into the red with a net loss of RM95.19 million in the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2018 (4QFY18) from a net profit of RM3.24 million a year ago, following a significant drop in profit from operations.

The lower profit from operations was due to lower contributions from its retail distribution, property investment and development, hotels and resorts, as well as gaming businesses, the group’s stock exchange filing yesterday revealed.

The group also provided for an impairment of various assets and unfavourable foreign exchange (forex) difference of about RM101 million — without which it would have recorded a pre-tax profit of about RM57.95 million during the quarter, as opposed to a pre-tax loss of RM43.05 million, it said.

Quarterly revenue fell 6% year-on-year to RM2.11 billion from RM2.23 billion, dragged down mainly by its marketing of consumer products and services segment, as well as its property investment and development segment.

For the full FY18, BCorp incurred a net loss of RM377.07 million compared to a net profit of RM149.29 million in FY17, mainly due to lower profit contribution from its property investment and development business.

The impairment of various assets and an unfavourable forex difference that totalled about RM354.15 million also impacted earnings, it said, without which its full-year pre-tax profit would have come in at RM226.24 million as opposed to a pre-tax loss of RM127.91 million.

In a separate statement, BCorp executive chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan said he is confident that a substantial portion of the impairment provision loss can be reversed in the future.

Meanwhile, FY18 revenue slipped 6% year-on-year to RM8.67 billion from RM9.18 billion.

On prospects, the group’s board of directors is of the view that BCorp’s operating environment will be challenging going forward, given the prevailing economic conditions and global financial outlook.