Berjaya Food 3Q net profit up 7.25%, driven by Starbucks

by **Cals** Wed 11 Mar 2015, 03:34

Berjaya Food 3Q net profit up 7.25%, driven by Starbucks

By Charlotte Chong / theedgemarkets.com | March 10, 2015 : 7:30 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 10): [size=14]Berjaya Food Bhd's (BFood) net profit rose 7.25% to RM8.64 million for its third financial quarter ended Jan 31, 2015 (3QFY15), from RM8.06 million a year ago, mainly due to the full effect of the consolidation of newly-acquired Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Co Sdn Bhd (BStarbucks), as well as contribution from its Starbucks operations in Brunei.

Revenue for 3QFY15 soared 222.47% to RM133.48 million, from RM41.39 million in 3QFY14. However, earnings per share (EPS) came in lower at 2.43 sen, from 3.04 sen a year ago.

BFood also declared a second interim dividend of 1.25 sen per share for the financial year ending April 30, 2015 (FY15), payable on April 23 this year.

On Sept 18 last year, BFood had completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in BStarbucks fromStarbucks Coffee International for RM279.5 million cash.

For the nine months period ended Jan 31, 2015 (9MFY15), BFood’s net profit jumped 904.76% to RM178.25 million, from RM17.74 milliona year ago. Revenue came in 122.53% higher at RM248.43 million, against RM111.64 million in 9MFY14.

Similarly, the increase in revenue and net profit was on the back of the consolidation of BStarbucks’ revenue and the contribution of Starbucks’ Brunei operations.

EPS rose to 57.24 sen, compared with 6.73 sen in 9MFY14.

Apart from the Starbucks Coffee brand, BFood is involved in developing and operating the Kenny Rogers Roasters chain in Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia, as well as Jollibean and various brands in Singapore.

Moving forward, BFood said with the consolidation of the results of BStarbucks, and the expected reduction in interest expense following the group's plan to repay its borrowings earlier than its repayment schedule, its results for 4QFY15 are expected to improve significantly.

BFood shares closed 1.08% or 3 sen higher at RM2.80 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.03 billion.

(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.)
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