KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 24): Flat steel player YKGI Holdings Bhd’s net loss for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 widened to RM6.93 million from RM3.53 million in the same quarter last year.

Quarterly revenue decreased by 14.7% to RM86.81 million from RM101.72 million previously, caused by a 19.1% fall in sales volume due to overall soft market conditions, the group said.

In notes accompanying the release of its financial results to the stock exchange today, YKGI attributed the weak performance to realised and unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM2.8 million, which it said was caused by the depreciation of the ringgit against the US dollar during the quarter.

After turning in a net profit of RM4.14 million in the first quarter, YKGI has now posted two straight quarters of net loss.

This brings the group’s accumulated net loss for the nine-month period to RM10.65 million, widened on-year from the RM8.11 million net loss registered in the same in the previous year.

Cumulative revenue, meanwhile, stood 11.9% lower at RM250.19 million, compared with RM283.83 million previously.

The group said it is currently still embarking on a restructuring exercise via a merger and acquisition to shift the business focus from midstream to downstream business activities.

Shares in YKGI rose one sen or 2.56% to close at 20 sen today, translating into a market capitalisation of RM70.14 million. The stock’s value has more-than-halved from when it hit its five-year peak of 43.5 sen on April 17.