This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 15, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Food Bhd  (BFood) posted a net profit of RM8.98 million in its third quarter (3Q) ended Jan 31, 2019, from a net loss of RM10.85 million a year ago, with higher profit contributions from its Starbucks operations, and improved performance from its Kenny Rogers Roasters outlets.

It was the group’s fourth consecutive profitable quarter after it fell into losses a year ago, following a loss arising from the disposal of its Kenny Rogers Roasters operations in Indonesia.

It declared a third interim dividend of one sen per share for financial year 2019 (FY19), to be paid on April 26. Earnings per share grew to 2.48 sen versus a loss per share of 2.88 sen previously, the group’s stock exchange filing yesterday showed.

Quarterly revenue rose 10% to RM180.54 million compared with RM164.44 million a year ago, thanks to same-store-sales growth recorded by existing Starbucks outlets, and additional Starbucks cafes operating in Malaysia.

“Profit from operations improved by 31% mainly due to higher profit contributions from Starbucks operations in tandem with the higher revenue achieved as well as improved performance from Kenny Roger’s Roasters Malaysia’s operations in the current quarter,” it said.

For the nine-month period ended Jan 31, the group’s net profit ballooned to RM22.26 million from RM304,000 previously — as a result of an improvement in the group’s profit from operations due to higher revenue and profit contributions from its Starbucks operations — while revenue rose 6% to RM508.5 million from RM479.61 million.

Again, the previous year’s corresponding period’s weaker performance was due to the abovementioned disposal loss.

Looking ahead, Berjaya Food said the renewed consumer confidence level, coupled with the group’s expansion plans, will fuel its business growth. This augurs well for the group’s operations going forward, it said.