Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 24, 2015.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Steel manufacturer Lion Corp Bhd saw its net loss doubling to RM176 million or 13.35 sen per share in the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (1QFY15) as revenue shrank, and foreign exchange losses came in higher.

Its net loss was RM85.93 million or 6.53 sen per share in the previous corresponding period, its filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday showed.

Its latest quarterly revenue shrank 43.7% to RM340.6 million from RM605.3 million in the same period last year, as its performance continued to be affected by foreign steel producers’ dumping activities as the measures imposed by the authorities are generally seen as ineffective, said Lion Corp.

That, coupled with the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar which saw it registering a foreign exchange loss of RM74 million versus RM2 million in the same period last year, caused it to register a higher operating loss of RM157 million, it noted.

Its property division, however, posted higher progress billings for the period under review — which saw its revenue more than double to RM31.5 million from RM13.99 million previously, while profit rose almost 150% to RM14.27 million.

Lion Corp expects the operating environment to remain tough in the coming quarter if no effective measures are taken by the government to curb dumping activities, which would cause local steel producers to continue to suffer.

However, it said the announcement by the government in September 2015 on the safeguard investigation augurs well for the group.

Lion Corp closed 0.5 sen or 11.11% lower at 4 sen yesterday, which valued it at RM59.2 million.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share