Sports Toto starts off FY23 with RM71.5mil net profit for 1Q, declares 2 sen dividend

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Sports Toto Bhd started off its financial year ending June 30, 2023 (FY23) on the right foot as it recorded RM71.5 million net profit in the first quarter ending Sept 30, 2022 — a turnaround from the RM17.67 million net loss posted in the same period last year.

The good performance was mainly due to the improved results reported by its number forecast operator (NFO) business STM Lottery Sdn Bhd and supported by the group’s luxury car deal HR Owen plc. STM Lottery was formerly known as Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

As such, the group recorded an earnings per share of 5.34 sen during the quarter compared to a loss per share of 1.32 sen in the corresponding quarter. A first interim dividend of 2 sen per share was declared, with an ex-date on December 29 and entitlement date on December 30.

Sports Toto’s revenue for the quarter climbed 77.93% to RM1.42 billion from RM797.57 million a year ago, driven by STM Lottery’s revenue increase of 844.7% year-on-year, due to higher number of draws conducted.

There were 46 draws conducted in the current quarter compared with only eight draws in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

Meanwhile, HR Owen also recorded revenue growth of 7.1% which was mainly attributed to the new car sector. When converted to the reporting currency of the group in ringgit, revenue was lower by 2.1% compared with the previous year's corresponding quarter, due to the unfavourable foreign exchange effect.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Sports Toto’s net profit was up by 54.05% from RM46.41 million posted in 4QFY2022 while revenue eased by 2.88% from RM1.46 billion recorded in the immediate preceding quarter.

Looking ahead, Sports Toto is cautiously optimistic and remains vigilant on the group’s operations whilst monitoring the development of domestic and global economic issues and its impact on its business operations and financial performance.

It anticipates that the group's businesses will remain encouraging and steadfast, particularly with the resilient nature of the NFO business, as noted in the past economic crises and turbulent periods.

Additionally, Sports Toto is confident that the group will continue to lead in terms of market share in the NFO business for the financial year ending June 30, 2023.

Sports Toto’s share price settled on Wednesday one sen or 0.62% lower at RM1.61, bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM2.18 billion.