KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Sports Toto Bhd's (formerly known as Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd) net profit in the third quarter ended March 31, 2022 (3QFY22) surged more than four-fold to RM79.56 million from RM18.68 million reported in the previous year, underpinned by higher contributions from HR Owen plc and STM Lottery Sdn Bhd.

Its bourse filing showed 3QFY22 revenue jumped 54.01% to RM1.73 billion from RM1.12 billion, largely driven by better sales from its lotto games and higher accumulated jackpot prizes, coupled with stronger sales during the festive period in February 2022.

The group's earnings per share improved to 5.93 sen from 1.39 sen. It declared a third interim dividend of two sen per share, to be paid on July 22.

Compared with the immediate preceding quarter of 2QFY22, the group's net profit rose 49.38% from RM53.26 million, while revenue climbed 38.79% from RM1.25 billion.

However, despite the improvement seen in 3QFY22, the group's net profit for the cumulative nine months ended March 31, 2022 declined 24.04% to RM115.16 million from RM151.59 million, even though revenue grew a marginal 1.87% to RM3.77 billion from RM3.7 billion.

The cumulative profit decline was mainly because of a lower contribution from STM Lottery, which saw lower sales, mitigated by improved results from HR Owen, and the group's share of profits in associated companies in the financial period, as opposed to share of losses in the previous year's corresponding period.

Moving forward, the group said it remains vigilant and cautiously optimistic that its businesses will gradually recover with the resilient nature of the number forecast operator (NFO) business, as noted in past economic crises and turbulent periods.

On that note, it said its directors are confident it will continue to lead in terms of market share in the NFO business for FY22, in line with the recovery of the NFO industry when the overall economy improves.

Shares in Sports Toto ended unchanged at RM1.91 on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.58 billion. The stock has climbed about 2.7% from when it was trading at RM1.86 at the start of the year.