This was on the back of a 4.9% lower revenue at RM1.38bil from RM1.45bil previously, mainly due to reduced revenue from H.R. Owen Plc during the quarter under review, as well as the recognition of substantial project contract sales by International Lottery & Totalizator Systems, Inc in the previous year
KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd
's earnings dipped 0.67% to RM61.73mil in the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2017 from RM62.15mil a year ago due to lower revenue.
However, it rewarded shareholders with a dividend of four sen a share – similar to a year ago.
The numbers forecast operator (NFO) said on Monday the second dividend will amount to RM53.9mil. The total dividend distribution for the financial period ended Oct 31, 2017 was about RM107.8mil which was 79.2% of the attributable profit of the group.
BToto's revenue fell nearly 4.9% to RM1.38bil from RM1.45bil a year ago. Earnings per share were 4.58 sen compared with 4.61 sen.
“The board does not foresee any substantial change in the business environment in which our businesses operate for the remaining quarters of the financial year ending April 30, 2018 and remain confident that the group will continue to maintain its market share in the NFO segment.
However, it raised concerns that its core NFO business undertaken by Sports Toto continue to be adversely impacted by rampant illegal gaming activities as well as weak consumer spending and sentiments.
Elaborating on the results, BToto said the lower revenue was due to a decline in turnover from H.R. Owen Plc and the recognition of substantial project contract sales by International Lottery & Totalizator Systems, Inc. (ILTS) a year ago.
However, the drop in revenue was mitigated by higher revenue registered by Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Sports Toto) and Philippine Gaming Management Corporation (PGMC).
As the pre-tax level, BToto's pre-tax profit was up by 0.7% to RM96.1mil from RM95.4mil a year ago. The higher pre-tax profit was mainly due to Sports Toto.
Loss on deemed partial disposal of equity interest in an associated company a year ago also contributed to the increase in group’s pre-tax profit.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Sports Toto reported a 4.1% rise in revenue and 20.1% increase in pre-tax profit. The main factors were strong sales from high jackpot in the Grand Toto 6/63 game – which recorded its highest jackpot ever of RM69.6mil in September 2017.
However, the higher percentage increase in pre-tax profit was mainly due to higher prize payout and operating expenses incurred a year ago.
For the first half, its earnings rose 12.5% to RM136.04mil from RM120.89mil in the previous corresponding period.
Its revenue fell 1.2% to RM2.85bil from RM2.89bil mainly due to the recognition of substantial project contract sales by ILTS a year ago.
However, this was mitigated by higher revenue recorded by Sports Toto in the current period under review.
The group’s pre-tax profit was higher by 11.4%, in spite of the drop in revenue, primarily attributed to the results of Sports Toto.
Sports Toto registered higher revenue of 0.9% in spite of having lower number of draws in the current period under review. Pre-tax profit increased by 10.6% mainly due to higher prize payout and operating expenses incurred a year ago.
