Sasbadi slips into the red

KUALA LUMPUR: Sasbadi Holdings Bhd slid into a net loss of RM2.27mil in the first quarter ended Nov 30, 2021 (1Q22), from a net profit of RM138,000 in 1Q21.

During the quarter, the publisher’s revenue fell 35% to RM9.41mil against RM14.48mil a year ago.

Sasbadi said the lower revenue was mainly due to its print publishing division, which showed a decrease of RM4.541mil and applied learning products (ALP) and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education division of RM468,000.

“The detrimental effects of the Covid-19 pandemic had affected our group’s performance in the first financial quarter for the financial year ending Aug 31, 2022 (FY22), notably by the sluggish performance of the retail sector and closures of schools,” it said in the notes accompanying its financial results.

“In addition, our first financial quarter, which is usually higher seasonally, had been largely impacted by the delay of the reopening of the new academic year to March 2022 as announced by the Ministry of Education.

“Our group had anticipated this, and consequently have been experiencing a pickup in demand for our educational products over the 2Q22 due to this delay. Notwithstanding unforeseen circumstances, our group also anticipates this demand to spill over into 3Q22,” Sasbadi said.

“As such, we remain cautiously optimistic of our prospects for FY22, further supported by the resumption of economic activities due to impressive vaccination progress and the reopening of schools that is anticipated to ramp up as the nation’s Covid-19 pandemic situation improves over time,” it added.