KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): Guocoland (Malaysia) Bhd, the property development arm of Hong Leong Group, reported a widened net loss of RM10 million for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 (1QFY20) versus its net loss of RM1.22 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, marking its sixth consecutive quarter in the red.

Accordingly, the property developer’s loss per share increased to 1.49 sen from 0.18 sen in the previous year.

The higher loss reported was on the back of a 38% decline in revenue for the quarter to RM48.32 million from RM77.77 million a year earlier, which was attributed to lower sales of completed units.

On prospects, the group said it expects the property market to remain lacklustre in the remainder of FY2020, due to the weak market and consumer sentiments.

“The overall momentum and prospects of the property market in the short term is expected to remain soft and challenging. Moving forward, the group will launch its projects according to prevailing market sentiments,” it said.

Guocoland shares fell 1 sen or 1.5% to 65.5 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM458.8 million. The stock, which has traded between RM1.67 and RM2.10 in the past 52 weeks, has climbed 23% from a year ago.