KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) continued to bleed red ink in the second quarter (Q2) ended Oct 31, bringing its loss attributable to equity holders to RM189.38mil in the first half-year compared to a profit of RM113.83mil in the previous corresponding period.
BCorp, whose businesses range from consumer product marketing to gaming, told Bursa Malaysia that its loss of RM145.98mil in Q2, on 11% lower revenue of RM2.19bil, was mainly due to a RM57.85mil impairment provision and RM39.94mil loss arising from the partial disposal of an associated company.
BCorp’s 65.3%-owned subsidiary Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) recently made a RM155.08mil provision for the impairment of a portion of the balance sales proceeds from the sale of its Great Mall of China project.
The provision for impairment attributable to the BCorp group, which holds 37% effective equity interest in the BLand subsidiary that sold the project, amounted to about RM57.85mil.
The under-construction Great Mall project, spanning about 306,260 sq metres of land area in Sanhe City, Hebei Province, involves the development of retail outlets, three indoor theme parks, a conference and exhibition centre, a hotel, and serviced apartments, among others.
BLand, via 51%-owned subsidiary Berjaya (China) Great Mall Co Ltd, completed the sale of the project to Beijing SkyOcean International Holdings Ltd for 2.08 billion yuan (RM1.3bil) at the end of last year.
However, BCorp said, Beijing SkyOcean had not remitted the balance sales proceeds of 974.07 million yuan (RM606.1mil) by November 2017.
“Legal proceedings have commenced to recover the outstanding sum against Beijing SkyOcean and its guarantors, and legal advice has indicated that the group has strong grounds to succeed in the recovery,” it noted.
On the lower Q2 FY18 revenue, BCorp said this was mainly due to lower revenue reported by the retail distribution and motor distribution businesses as well as the property investment and development business segment in the quarter.
“The retail distribution business was affected by the weak consumer sentiment coupled with the intense competition in the local and oversea markets. The motor distribution business under H.R. Owen PLC also reported lower revenue due to the softening demand in the United Kingdom car market as well as the product life cycle of the car models available for sale,” it said in a press statement.
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