Friday, June 29, 2012

Berjaya Corp Book A 44 Million Loss From Its Investment In Silver Bird

Berjaya Corp announced its earnings. Here's the numbers.



Here's the Sun Biz take on Berjaya Corp's earnings. http://www.thesundaily.my/news/420394
  • BCorp posts pre-tax profit of RM586m for FY12 Posted on 29 June 2012 - 05:41am

    PETALING JAYA (June 29, 2012): Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) reported a pre-tax profit of RM585.9 million for the financial year ended April 30, 2012 (FY12) compared with RM626 million a year ago, due mainly to lower operating profit from its marketing of consumer products and services segment.

    Revenue rose marginally to RM7.1 billion from RM7 billion a year ago, mainly contributed by the group's marketing of consumer products and services, betting operations, and hotels and resorts segments.

    For the fourth quarter (Q4), the group's pre-tax profit came in lower at RM70.3 million from RM182.2 million a year ago, due to lower contribution from its marketing of consumer products and services, betting operations and the share of associate companies' exceptionally high losses, particularly from the investment in Silver Bird Group Bhd, where the group equity accounted for its share of losses amounting to about RM44 million.

    In addition, the previous year's corresponding quarter profit included one-off exceptional gains from disposal of investment property and investments.

    "The expansion of the retail distribution division into new markets involved high initial expenses in terms of pre-operating, setting up and operating overheads, which had eroded profits during the current expansion phase. The motor distribution business, however, recorded an increase in profit for the quarter under review," BCorp said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

    The gaming business recorded a lower pre-tax profit mainly due to higher prize payout in Q4, which offset gains from its property and hotels and resorts businesses.

    It also saw lower revenue in Q4 of RM1.8 billion from RM1.9 billion a year ago.

    For FY13, BCorp said it will focus on further developing all its business segments, in particular the marketing of consumer products and services.

    "The emphasis will be on improving efficiency as well as widening their market presence. Given the cautious economic outlook, the directors are of the view that the group's performance for the current financial year will remain satisfactory," it added.
And as usual, for some business journalists, it's the pre-tax profit that matters!

Fantastic Baby!

Do they really know that taxes do matter???

So Berjaya Corp booked a 44 million loss from its investment in Silver Bird. Ouch! ( The 'sibuk' one of course would be very keen to know how much losses did LTH book for its investment in Silver Bird!)

Here's an old article dated 2007 (sorry link broken) posted on the Edge.
  • 5-10-2007: Berjaya ups stake in Silver Bird to 14.15% By Gan Yen Kuan

    Berjaya Corporation Bhd (BCorp) has more than doubled its stake in Silver Bird Group Bhd to 14.15% after its subsidiaries acquired a total of 18.71 million shares on Sept 27 and Oct 1.

    The acquisitions took place after Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) emerged as the single largest shareholder of the bread and confectionery maker, with a 23.72% stake comprising 55.65 million shares as at Sept 26.

    Several filings to Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday showed that BCorp's indirect subsidiaries, namely Berjaya Sompo Insurance Bhd, Rantau Embun Sdn Bhd and Selat Makmur Sdn Bhd, acquired nine million Silver Bird shares on Sept 27, and 9.71 million on Oct 1, all from the open market.

    The two transactions increased BCorp's total shareholdings in Silver Bird to 33.2 million shares.

    Subsequently, BCorp chairman and chief executive officer Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun's direct and indirect stake in Silver Bird was raised to 14.36%, given his interest in BCorp. His direct stake in Silver Bird comprises 487,500 shares or 0.21%.

    A filing on Wednesday also showed that Silver Bird group managing director Datuk Jackson Tan Han Kook had acquired 500,000 shares, directly and indirectly on Tuesday, raising his stake in the company to 17.29%.

    Yesterday, the share price of Silver Bird hit an intra-day high of RM1 before easing off to close at its historic high of 96 sen, up 17.5 sen or 22.29%. There were 14.4 million shares transacted.

    Its warrants surged 50% or eight sen to close at a historic high of 24 sen, and was the most actively traded counter with the volume of 89.3 million.

    The other major shareholder of Silver Bird is Australian venture capital firm CVC Ltd, which has a 12.81% stake comprising 30.06 million shares. Of the 30.06 million shares, 20 million were acquired through private placement, while 10.06 million were transferred to it from its fund manager Perkasa Normandy Managers Sdn Bhd.

    That left Perkasa Normandy with 10 million Silver Bird shares at press time.

    CIMB Research said in a research note yesterday that the recent development in Silver Bird appeared like "a race for control" between the major shareholders.

    "SBG (Silver Bird Group Bhd) remains a trading-oriented buy as we expect a flurry of buying by the four major shareholders in a possible tussle for control that could trigger a general offer," it said.

    As such, the research house raised its target price for Silver Bird to RM1 from 75 sen, as it increased the price to book value (P/BV) target to two times from 1.5 times, given that Silver Bird's share price "could bid up in the fight for control".

    "As the two times P/BV is still nowhere near the current six times average for Nestle Malaysia, F&N Holdings and Dutch Lady, and the sector's historical 10-year low of 4.3 times, this suggests further upside to our target price," it added.

    LTH has been accumulating Silver Bird shares since early September. The Edge Financial Daily reported last Thursday that the LTH's accumulation of a strategic stake in Silver Bird had led to analysts speculating that the latter could be used as a platform for the pilgrim fund to enter the food industry in a big way.

    On that note, CIMB Research said LTH had "made no secret of its intention of going into the food business", riding on the government's efforts to promote Malaysia as the hub for halal food.

    "In FY06, LTH made a net profit of RM210 million and had net cash of RM2.5 billion. Based on yesterday's (Oct 3) closing price, LTH will have to pay only RM141 million for the SBG shares it does not already own.

    "We view cash-rich LTH's involvement positively as it could be adding value, and more importantly, adding credibility, to SBG, whose halal status came under scrutiny last year," it said.

    While LTH was acting on its own, the research house said there was still no information as to whom Perkasa Normandy and CVC were buying the Silver Bird shares for.

    acquired nine million Silver Bird shares on Sept 27, and 9.71 million on Oct 1, all from the open market.

    The two transactions increased BCorp's total shareholdings in Silver Bird to 33.2 million shares.

    Subsequently, BCorp chairman and chief executive officer Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun's direct and indirect stake in Silver Bird was raised to 14.36%, given his interest in BCorp. His direct stake in Silver Bird comprises 487,500 shares or 0.21%.

    A filing on Wednesday also showed that Silver Bird group managing director Datuk Jackson Tan Han Kook had acquired 500,000 shares, directly and indirectly on Tuesday, raising his stake in the company to 17.29%.

    Yesterday, the share price of Silver Bird hit an intra-day high of RM1 before easing off to close at its historic high of 96 sen, up 17.5 sen or 22.29%. There were 14.4 million shares transacted.

    Its warrants surged 50% or eight sen to close at a historic high of 24 sen, and was the most actively traded counter with the volume of 89.3 million.

    The other major shareholder of Silver Bird is Australian venture capital firm CVC Ltd, which has a 12.81% stake comprising 30.06 million shares. Of the 30.06 million shares, 20 million were acquired through private placement, while 10.06 million were transferred to it from its fund manager Perkasa Normandy Managers Sdn Bhd.

    That left Perkasa Normandy with 10 million Silver Bird shares at press time.

    CIMB Research said in a research note yesterday that the recent development in Silver Bird appeared like "a race for control" between the major shareholders.

    "SBG (Silver Bird Group Bhd) remains a Trading-oriented Buy as we expect a flurry of buying by the four major shareholders in a possible tussle for control that could trigger a general offer," it said.

    As such, the research house raised its target price for Silver Bird to RM1 from 75 sen, as it increased the price to book value (P/BV) target to two times from 1.5 times, given that Silver Bird's share price "could bid up in the fight for control".

    "As the two times P/BV is still nowhere near the current six times average for Nestle Malaysia, F&N Holdings and Dutch Lady, and the sector's historical 10-year low of 4.3 times, this suggests further upside to our target price," it added.

    LTH has been accumulating Silver Bird shares since early September. The Edge Financial Daily reported last Thursday that the LTH's accumulation of a strategic stake in Silver Bird had led to analysts speculating that the latter could be used as a platform for the pilgrim fund to enter the food industry in a big way.

    On that note, CIMB Research said LTH had "made no secret of its intention of going into the food business", riding on the government's efforts to promote Malaysia as the hub for halal food.

    "In FY06, LTH made a net profit of RM210 million and had net cash of RM2.5 billion. Based on Wednesday's closing price, LTH will have to pay only RM141 million for the SBG shares it does not already own.

    "We view cash-rich LTH's involvement positively as it could be adding value, and more importantly, adding credibility, to SBG, whose halal status came under scrutiny last year," it said.

    While LTH was acting on its own, the research house said there was still no information as to whom Perkasa Normandy and CVC were buying the Silver Bird shares for.

LOL! They used P/BV as a comparion? ( Do you wonder why they did not do a Price Earnings comparison? ) And they actually compared Silver Bird to Nestle and Dutch Lady??

And Silver Bird posted its earnings the other day too: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/417801
  • Silver Bird posts bigger Q2 net loss of RM295m Posted on 27 June 2012 - 05:39am

    PETALING JAYA (June 27, 2012): Financially-troubled Silver Bird Group Bhd announced a bigger net loss of RM295.3 million in the second quarter ended April 30, 2012 (Q2) against the previous quarter's RM13.6 million, on a dip in revenue from its consumer food and telecommunication businesses.

    It posted a net profit of RM1.9 million in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 35% to RM30.8 million for Q2 from RM47.7 million a year ago.

    Despite the huge losses, Silver Bird said it will maintain the operations of its consumer food division, which it deems to be profitable, and will start a new business in the distribution of U-Mobile telephone cards.

    "The board is in the process of evaluating the prospects of the group in the light of the financial irregularities, removal of its managing director, executive director and general manager of accounts and finance, the Practice Note 17 (PN17) status of the group as well as the termination of the distribution agreement between Maxis Mobile Services Sdn Bhd and Stanson Marketing Sdn Bhd," it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

    Silver Bird entered into PN17 status on Feb 29 after defaulting on payments to creditors amounting to RM5.37 million.

    Reviewing its Q2 results, Silver Bird said the consumer food division recorded a revenue of RM31 million, a decline of 34% from the RM47 million a year ago, while revenue from the telecommunication business fell to RM200,000 from RM1 million.

    For the six months, Silver Bird posted a net loss of RM308.9 million compared with a net profit of RM2.8 million a year ago, mainly due to the financial irregularities in the consumer food division.

    Revenue also declined to RM75.3 million from RM95.7 million.

    Silver Bird said the financial irregularities have affected the financial results of the group for Q2.

    "These financial irregularities continued into the month of February 2012, when all appropriate adjustments were made to reflect a true and fair financial position of the group. Accordingly, the financial report for the quarter ended April 30, 2012 must be read in the above light," it added.
ps: Do read the earnings note posted on Bursa Malaysia. It's a much better read, especially on how and where the losses were recorded.



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