KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 20): Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd’s (BToto) net profit  grew 26.5% to RM74.3 million, or 5.51 sen per share, for the first quarter of financial year ended July 31 (1QFY18) from RM58.7 million or 4.36 sen per share in the previous corresponding quarter.

The higher earnings were boosted by improved results of luxury car dealer H.R. Owen Plc (HR Owen), in which BToto holds an effective 86.8% stake, and foreign exchange gain recognized by a foreign subsidiary company in the financial quarter under review.

For the current quarter, the group’s revenue edged higher by 2.5% to RM1.47 billion from RM1.44 billion.

The board has declared a first interim dividend of four sen per share in respect of the financial year ending April 30, 2018 (FY18) and payable on Oct 24. The ex-date for the dividend payment is Oct 6.

According to the filing with Bursa, its number forecast operation (NFO) Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Sports Toto) recorded a 2.3% drop in revenue against the previous corresponding quarter. In spite of the decline in revenue, it registered an increase in pre-tax profit of 2.3% primarily due to lower prize payout in the quarter under review.

Philippine Gaming Management Corporation on the other hand saw a decline in revenue and pre-tax profit of 4.6% and 25.2% respectively.

“The lower results reported by Philippine Gaming was mainly due to lower lease rental income earned from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office coupled with higher operating expenses incurred in the quarter under review,” it said.

It added that HR Own registered an increase in revenue to RM670.7 million from RM626.1 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter while pre-tax profit increased to RM15.5 million from RM6.9 million in the prior year’s corresponding quarter.

The better earnings reported by HR Owen was mainly due to revenue growth attributed to higher new and used vehicle sales coupled with certain new models available for sale during the current quarter.

Moving forward, the board expects the NFO business to be challenging for the remaining of FY18 in view of the intense competition from illegal gaming activities coupled with rising costs and weak consumer sentiments.

“Notwithstanding these challenges, the directors are confident that the group will continue to maintain its market share in the NFO business for the remaining quarters of the financial year ending April 30, 2018,” it said.

At closing, BToto was unchanged at RM2.32 with about 421,500 shares traded. Year-to-date, BToto has seen its share price plummet by about 21.6% and trade at a trailing P/E of 13.2 times, giving it a market capitalization of RM3.13 billion.