KUALA LUMPUR (May 28): Lion Corp Bhd saw its net loss widen 14% to RM105.93 million for its third quarter ended March 31, 2015 (3QFY15), from a net loss of RM92.88 million a year before, as revenue dipped 6.6% to RM571.47 million, from RM611.93 million.

For its nine months ended March 31 (9MFY15), Lion Corp’s net loss deteriorated 40% to RM315.17 million, from RM224.90 million in 9MFY14; revenue meanwhile, declined 9% to RM1.65 billion, from RM1.82 billion during the same period, its filing to Bursa Malaysia showed.

The Practice Note 17 (PN17) company said its weaker 9MFY15 performance was due to sluggish demand for flat steel products in both the domestic and overseas market.

“Coupled with the foreign exchange loss of RM47 million resulting from the strengthening of the US dollar against the ringgit, a loss of RM217 million was reported for the period,” the group said.

The group’s property division also posted lower progress billings for the period under review, while contribution of its furniture division remains negligible.

The group, which slipped into PN17 in October 2013, said dumping activities by foreign millers remain rampant and the group continues to run its plants at low production capacity, which caused it to incur losses for the quarter under review.

“Pending the implementation by the government of more effective measures to address the problem of excessive imports of steel products at dumping prices, the operating environment of the group continues to remain challenging for the next quarter,” said Lion Corp.

The group’s accumulated losses as at March 31, is at RM2.3 billion.

Lion Corp closed untraded today at 5 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM65.81 million.