KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24):  Malayan United Industries Bhd (MUI) sank into the red with a loss of RM6.96 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY14) from a net profit of RM6.28 million the year before.

Revenue for FY2014 fell by 8.3% to RM608.26 million from RM663.37 million the year before.

The poorer set of financials was attributed to weaker performances across many of the group’s business divisions, namely retail, food & confectionary; property as well as the Malaysian operations of its retail and hotel divisions.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4Q14), MUI (fundamental: 1.35; valuation: 0.3) narrowed its losses to RM3.88 million from RM11.02 million a year ago. The losses were attributed to lower gross profit and higher total expenses from continuing operations.

Meanwhile, its fourth quarter revenue declined 8% to RM167.06 million from RM181.57 million the same time last year.

With the losses, MUI’s loss per share for the quarter under review was 13 sen while that for the year was 24 sen.

On the company’s prospects in the new financial year, MUI is “cautiously optimistic on the earnings of its various businesses” and “will continue to assess potential investment opportunities to enhance its shareholders value”.

MUI saw its share price fell 1.89% to 26 sen to day.

(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.)