Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd (AZRB), severely affected by the termination of its construction contract for the Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia, registered a pre-tax loss of RM82.207 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010.

It was a reversal compared to the pre-tax profit of RM7.981 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Its revenue shrank to RM52.623 million from RM105.558 million.

For the full year, it posted a pre-tax loss of RM48.757 million against a pre-tax profit of RM32.429 million in the previous year.

The termination of the Alfaisal University resulted in an exceptional loss of RM94 million, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

It said its revenue from the construction operation fell to RM374.4 million from RM411.7 million due to a reversal of revenue effected on Alfaisal University in the fourth quarter.

AZRB, which is involved in construction and bunkering activities, said the order book of its construction activities stood at RM1.023 billion.

Its bunkering operation continued to show strong growth with a pre-tax profit of RM17.9 million against RM12.2 million in the previous year and revenue rose to RM55.6 million from RM41.6 million.

On prospects, it said the loss from its Saudi operation is a one-off isolated event due to exceptional circumstances with no further significant cash outflows expected.

It believes the the loss would not hinder the group from continuing to achieve better performance in the coming years. -- Bernama