Berjaya Food rises 3% after strong earnings report

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Food Bhd rose 3% in early trade Thursday following a strong earnings report.

The food and beverage company gained four sen, or 3% to RM1.37.

Berjaya Food’s net profit grew 21% year-on-year in its second quarter ended Oct 31, 2018 (2QFY19), to RM7.03mil from RM5.81mil, on higher same-store sales growth from its Starbucks cafes, and the opening of new outlets.

Its earnings per share for the quarter rose to 1.89 sen from 1.55 sen per share previously.

Revenue rose 4% year-on-year to RM166.58mil from RM160.78mil.

The company recommended a second interim dividend of 1 sen per share for FY19, to be paid on Jan 25, 2019.

Berjaya Food reported a net profit of RM13.2mil on the first six months to October 31 on revenue of RM327.9mil.

AmInvestment Bank Research said Berjaya Food’s 1HFY19 net profit was broadly in line, accounting for 56% and 52% of the house and street’s full-year estimates respectively.

The research house has maintained its “buy” call on Berjaya Food with an unchanged fair value of RM2.01 per share.

“Valuations are pegged to a P/E of 25x, reflecting a 20% premium to its historical valuations.

“We think that this is justified as Berjaya Food is on the cusp of revival. The group’s expected earnings growth of 73% for FY19F is attractive coupled with the stellar Starbucks brand,” it added.

Source: TheStar