This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on December 28, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) narrowed its net loss by 51% to RM71.04 million for the second financial quarter ended Oct 31, 2018 (2QFY19) from RM145.99 million a year ago, due to the absence of impairment related to the sale of the Great Mall of China (GMOC) project.

As a result, BCorp’s loss per share also shrunk to 1.24 sen for 2QFY19 from 2.54 sen for 2QFY18.

Quarterly revenue, however, fell 9% to RM1.99 billion from RM2.19 billion, mainly due to lower contribution from consumer products and services, and property segments.

“The consumer products and services segment is operating in an intensely competitive trading environment, pervaded with numerous online marketing portals, as well as other direct selling competitors,” said BCorp in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

“Revenue from the property segment also decreased following a slowdown in the sales of the group’s high-end projects,” it added.

For the cumulative six months (1HFY19), the group’s net loss also narrowed to RM35.98 million from RM189.38 million a year ago, even though revenue slipped 5.7% to RM4.13 billion from RM4.38 billion in 1HFY18.

“Given the prevailing economic conditions and global financial outlook, the directors are of the view that the group’s operating environment will be challenging for the remaining quarters of the financial year ending April 30, 2019,” said BCorp.