KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood)’s net profit dropped 49.5% in the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 (3QFY2023) to RM15.94 million from RM31.58 million in 3QFY2022, no thanks to margin compression arising from inflationary pressures that pushed operating costs higher.
Quarterly revenue increased 8.27% to RM265.85 million compared to a revenue of RM246 in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, which is largely attributed to the opening of additional Starbucks cafes in the current quarter under review, the company’s stock exchange filing showed on Thursday (May 18).
Earnings per share retreated to 0.91 sen, from 1.74 sen previously.
The group declared a third interim dividend of 0.5 sen per share — more than the 0.3 sen it paid in the corresponding quarter last year — to be paid on June 23. This raised its year to date dividend to three sen, as opposed to 0.7 sen previously.
For the first nine months of FY2023 (9MFY2023), BFood’s net profit came in at RM86.13 million, up 4.92% from RM82.08 million a year earlier, as revenue grew 19.5% to RM844.22 million, from RM706.47 million.
The group attributed the higher revenue to higher same-store-sales growth, particularly from Starbucks cafes, as well as new Starbucks cafes.
The group expects Starbucks to maintain its revenue growth momentum, and anticipates that the operating results of the group will remain satisfactory for the remaining quarter of the financial year ending June 30, 2023 (FY2023), despite facing inflationary pressures on operating costs.
BFood shares closed unchanged at 82.5 sen on Thursday, valuing the company at RM1.60 billion.
