PETALING JAYA: Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd’s (BToto) revenue for the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2015 rose 15.1% to RM1.44 billion from RM1.25 billion a year ago due to the contribution from H.R. Owen Plc, Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Philippine Gaming Management Corp (PGMC).
Pre-tax profit for the quarter fell 19.8% to RM114.93 million from RM143.24 million a year ago mainly due to the results of Sports Toto, the principal subsidiary.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia last Friday, the group said that Sports Toto recorded an increase in revenue of 3.9% mainly attributed to strong sales from high jackpot in the 4D Jackpot game during the quarter.
Pre-tax profit for Sports Toto was reduced by 25.4% mainly due to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) being absorbed by Sports Toto, as well as a lower prize payout in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.
According to BToto, PGMC registered lower revenue and pre-tax profit in terms of the Philippine peso as compared with a year ago, mainly due to lower lease rental income earned from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
“Nevertheless, PGMC reported an increase in revenue and pre-tax profit of 17.2% and 0.2% respectively upon the translation to ringgit (reporting currency of the BToto Group) as a result of favourable foreign exchange effect during the current quarter under review,” it said.
It added that the improved results of H.R. Owen during the quarter were mainly attributed to the revenue contributed from additional outlets.
“The favourable foreign exchange effect during the current quarter had enhanced the improved performance of H.R. Owen with revenue increasing to RM562.3 million from RM420.1 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter and a pre-tax profit of RM1.9 million as compared with a pre-tax loss of RM900,000 in the previous year’s corresponding quarter,” it said.
For the six months ended Oct 31, 2015, the group’s revenue rose 11.4% to RM2.78 billion from RM2.50 billion a year ago while pre-tax profit fell 13.6% to RM227.91 million from RM263.92 million a year ago.
The group attributed the higher revenue to the results of H.R. Owen, Sports Toto and PGMC while the lower pre-tax profit was mainly due to the results of Sports Toto, mitigated by H.R. Owen’s improved results.
BToto declared a second interim single tier dividend of 5 sen per share with respect to the financial year ending April 30, 2016 (FY16). With the first interim dividend distributed in October 2015, the total dividend distribution for the financial period ended Oct 31, 2015 will be 10 sen per share.
Based on the number of 10 sen fully paid ordinary shares in issue and with voting rights as at Dec 17, 2015 of 1.349 billion, the second interim dividend distribution for FY16 will amount to RM67.5 million.
The total dividend distribution for the financial period ended Oct 31, 2015 is about RM133.8 million, representing about 93.5% of the attributable profit of the group for the financial period ended Oct 31, 2015.
“With the rising costs resulting from the challenging economic conditions which continue to dampen consumer spending and the additional cost incurred in absorbing the GST, the directors expect the numbers forecast operations (NFO) business to be challenging for the remaining quarters of FY16. In spite of the above, the directors expect the group to maintain its market share in the NFO business,” it said.
