KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 18): Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) saw its net profit fall 29.1% to RM70.65 million or 5.27 sen per share for the second financial quarter ended Oct 31, 2015 (2QFY16) from RM99.67 million or 7.39 sen per share a year ago, mainly due to lower contribution from its principal subsidiary Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the number forecast operator (NFO) said Sports Toto's pre-tax profit for 2QFY16 was reduced by 25.4% mainly due to the goods and services tax (GST) being absorbed, coupled with the lower prize payout in 2QFY15.

However, BToto's revenue for 2QFY16 came in 15.2% higher at RM1.44 billion from RM1.25 billion in 2QFY15 due to higher contribution from H.R. Owen Plc, Sports Toto and Philippine Gaming Management Corp.

Despite lower earnings, BToto declared a second interim dividend of five sen, amounting to RM67.5 million, payable on Feb 3, 2016. This brings its total dividend for the year to 10 sen per share.

For the cumulative six-month period (1HFY16), BToto's net profit fell 19.6% to RM143.12 million or 10.66 sen per share from RM178.03 million or 13.21 sen per share in 1HFY15.

Revenue for 1HFY16, however, grew 11.7% year-on-year to RM2.78 billion from RM2.49 billion.

Going forward, BToto expects the NFO business to be challenging for the remaining quarters of the financial year ending April 30, 2016 (FY16) in view of the economic headwinds.

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

BToto shares fell seven sen or 2.28% to close at RM3 today, for a market capitalisation of RM4.05 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.)