KUALA LUMPUR (June 28): Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) fell into the red with a net loss of RM95.19 million in the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2018 (4QFY18), from a net profit of RM3.24 million a year ago, following a significant drop in profit from operations.

The lower operational profit was due to lower contributions from its retail distribution, property investment and development, hotels and resorts, as well as gaming businesses, the group's stock exchange filing today revealed.

BCorp also provided for an impairment of various assets and unfavourable foreign exchange difference of about RM101 million — without which it would have recorded a pre-tax profit of about RM57.95 million, as opposed to a pre-tax loss of RM43.05 million, the filing said.

Quarterly revenue fell 6% year-on-year to RM2.11 billion from RM2.23 billion, dragged mainly by its marketing of consumer products and services segment, as well as its property investment and development segment.

For its full financial year ended April 30, 2018 (FY18), BCorp incurred a net loss of RM377.07 million against a net profit of RM149.29 million in FY17, mainly due to lower profit contribution from its property investment and development business. 

The impairment of various assets and an unfavourable foreign exchange difference that totalled about RM354.15 million also impacted earnings, it said, without which its full year (FY18) pre-tax profit would have come in at RM226.24 million, as opposed to a pre-tax loss of RM127.91 million.

In a separate statement, BCorp executive chairman Tan Sri Datuk Seri Vincent Tan said he is confident a substantial portion of the impairment provision losses can be reversed in future.

Meanwhile, FY18 revenue slipped 6% y-o-y to RM8.67 billion, from RM9.18 billion. 

On prospects, the group's board of directors are of the view that BCorp's operating environment will be challenging going forward, given the prevailing economic conditions and global financial outlook.