KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): Brahim's Holdings Bhd saw its net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 (1QFY18) widen to RM2.15 million or 0.80 sen per share from RM1.85 million or 0.69 sen per share a year ago, according to a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

This was in line with the 3.7% decline in 1QFY18 revenue to RM68.7 million as compared to RM71.3 million in 1QFY17.

It said that for the current quarter, the performance of the in-flight catering and related revenue in services continued to show decreasing trend quarter-on-quarter as well as year-on-year (y-o-y). "Revenue for the current quarter decreased by RM2.75 million or 4% closing at RM66.47 million compared with a revenue of RM69.22 million in the same quarter last year," it said.

Similarly, the quarter segmental profit recorded a loss of RM1.03 million as compared to a profit of RM2.31 million in 1QFY17.

For the food and beverage (F&B) segment, the revenue was only RM19,000 in 1QFY18, which was 91% or RM191,000 lower than the revenue of RM210,000 in 1QFY17, due to discontinued operation of the underperforming outlet.

Brahim's said this led to a loss of RM358,000 in 1QFY18 against a loss of RM256,000 in same quarter last year.

The note filed with Bursa pointed out that the revenue for the logistics and related services has managed to see a y-o-y improvement of 13% or RM237,000 to RM2.06 million as compared to RM1.82 million. The warehouse occupancy rate continued to remain stable. The segment also saw a profit of RM246,000, which is higher compared to RM95,000 in 1QFY17.

On its prospects, Brahim's noted that the outlook for the in-flight catering and related services remained challenging with the continuous drop in passenger count data provided by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd but is expected to see some recovery via other channels by acquiring to serve at other international airports and to diversify into non-airline business.

The F&B segment is still under review by the management while the logistics and related services segment is expected to maintain its business volume while management set to expand its business models and operations to streamline costs structure.

As of writing, Brahim's share price was unchanged at 28.5 sen with 58,800 shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM68.5 million.