KUALA LUMPUR (June 18): Number forecast operator (NFO) Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd’s (BToto) net profit more than halved to RM35.18 million in the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2018 (4QFY18), from RM72.49 million a year ago, due to impairment in value of available-for-sales quoted investments and goodwill on leasing of lottery equipment business in the Philippines.

This resulted in lower earnings per share of 2.61 sen in the current quarter, compared with 5.38 sen a year ago. Quarterly revenue also came in 5.2% lower at RM1.4 billion from RM1.48 billion in 4QFY17, due to lower revenue reported by HR Owen Plc and Philippine Gaming Corp Management.

Nevertheless, the group declared its fourth interim dividend of 4 sen per share for the financial year ended April 30, 2018 (FY18), payable on Aug 9.

For the full year (FY18), the group posted a 2.8% decline in net profit to RM230.45 million from RM237.13 million in the previous year, while revenue fell 1.2% to RM5.66 billion, from RM5.73 billion in FY17.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, BToto said it anticipates the performance of the NFO business of Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd to be satisfactory and is confident that the group will continue to maintain its market share in the NFO business for FY19.

BToto’s share price fell six sen or 2.32% to close at RM2.53 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM3.41 billion. Year-to-date, the counter has risen 12.9% from its closing price of RM2.24 on Dec 29 last year.