BFood’s 2Q net profit drops 96%, pays 1.25 sen dividend

by **Cals** Thu 10 Dec 2015, 21:53

BFood’s 2Q net profit drops 96%, pays 1.25 sen dividend

By Tan Siew Mung / The Edge Financial Daily | December 10, 2015 : 10:00 AM MYT

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 10, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: [size=16]Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood) ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 2.10, Fundamental: 1.15), which operates the Kenny Rogers Roasters, Starbucks and Jollibean chains in Malaysia, saw its second-quarter net profit plummet 96.2%, mainly due to the recognition of gain arising from the remeasurement of a 50% equity interest in Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Co Sdn Bhd (BStarbucks) in the previous year’s corresponding quarter and foreign exchange loss of RM1 million.

Net profit dropped to RM6.2 million or 1.65 sen a share for the three months ended Oct 31, 2015 (2QFY16) from RM163.6 million or 53.71 sen a share a year ago.

In a statement yesterday, BFood said excluding the remeasurement gain of RM158.6 million, it recorded a higher pre-tax profit of RM8.79 million in 2QFY16 from RM6.7 million in 2QFY15, thanks to the full effect of consolidating BStarbucks. BStarbucks became a subsidiary of the group in 2QFY15.

Revenue surged 79.8% to RM135.42 million in 2QFY16 from RM75.32 million in 2QFY15.

BFood also declared a second interim dividend of 1.25 sen per share for the financial year ending April 30, 2016 (FY16), payable on Jan 22, 2016. For the cumulative six months (6MFY16), BFood’s net profit fell 92.7% to RM12.31 million or 3.28 sen a share from RM169.6 million or 58.55 sen a share in 6MFY15.

Excluding the remeasurement gain of RM158.6 million in the previous year’s corresponding period, the pre-tax profit was RM17.7 million in 6MFY16, compared with RM13 million a year ago. Revenue for 6MFY16, meanwhile, more than doubled to RM267.83 million from RM114.95 in 6MFY15.

BFood said it expects Starbucks Malaysia to maintain its revenue growth momentum and the overall results of the group to be satisfactory for the remaining quarters of FY16. “After October last year, the ringgit has strengthened slightly against the US dollar and shows signs of stability. The profit margin is not expected to reduce further if the exchange rate is stabilised at the current level,” it added.
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