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

KUALA LUMPUR: Media Chinese International Ltd (MCIL), which is listed on both Bursa Malaysia and Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx), issued a profit warning yesterday, that it may record a net loss for the financial year ended March 31, 2019 (FY19).

In a notice filed with HKEx, which was also announced on Bursa Malaysia, MCIL blamed the weak results to a provision for the impairment of goodwill of approximately US$15 million (RM62.55 million) in relation to a business unit of the group.

“The information contained in this announcement is only based on preliminary assessment by the board of directors on the currently available information.

“The above information may be subject to further adjustment based on further updated information and following the completion of the audit by the company’s independent auditor.

“The detailed financial information and performance of the group will be disclosed in the company’s final results announcement for FY19, which is expected to be published in late May,” it added.

For the cumulative nine months ended Dec 31, 2018 (9MFY19), the group’s net profit fell 8.6% to RM32.03 million from RM35.05 million a year ago, while revenue rose 4.4% to RM956.53 million from RM915.8 million in 9MFY18.

For FY18, MCIL reported a net loss of RM44.37 million compared to a net profit of RM58.55 million in the previous year, as revenue fell 5.8% to RM1.1 billion from RM1.17 billion in FY17, also due to a provision for impairment.