KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) saw its net profit fall 7% to RM72.47 million or 5.39 sen per share for the first quarter ended July 31, 2015 (1QFY16), from RM78.34 million or 5.81 sen per share a year earlier, due to higher prize payout and the absorption of the goods and services tax (GST) expenses by its principal unit, Sports Toto Malaysia Bhd.

Revenue for the quarter was up 8% to RM1.34 billion for 1QFY16, from RM1.24 billion in 1QFY15, its filing to Bursa Malaysia today showed.

BToto announced a first single-tier cash dividend of 2.5 sen per share, payable on Oct 23, 2015. It also declared a share dividend distribution of 9.57 million treasury shares on the bases of one treasury share for every 140 ordinary shares held.

Meanwhile, the increase in revenue for the quarter was due to positive results from HR Owen Plc, which posted revenue of RM532.9 million, up 20% on year, while pre-tax profit rose 68% to RM10.9 million.

"The improved results of HR Owen was mainly attributed to the revenue contributed from additional outlets, higher revenue boosted by new cars sales volume as well as favourable foreign exchange effect in the current quarter under review," said BToto.

Going forward, it expects challenges ahead for its number forecast operator (NFO) business in the remaining quarters of its current financial year, as consumers are more cautious due to inflationary effect on the economy and the absorption of GST expenses by the group.

"In spite of the above, the directors expect the group to maintain its market share in the NFO business," said the company.

BToto fell 3 sen or 0.95% to RM3.12, bringing its market capitalisation to RM4.22 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)