sharen@nst.com.my
Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) is preparing for a brighter future in the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2022 (FY 2022).
According to a stock exchange filing made yesterday, the board of directors expects the group's business operations to steadily improve in FY 2022, with the projected opening of more businesses.
The main operating businesses of the BLand group are number forecast operations (toto betting operations), motor retailing, property development and investment, and the operations of hotels and resorts.
According to analysts, the group's hotels and resorts division is expected to generate more revenue in the current fiscal year.
Berjaya Property Ireland Ltd, the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, will contribute a significant portion of it, they said.
BLand has purchased 100 per cent of Icelandair Hotels ehf through BPIL for US$57.03 (about RM234.11 million) in cash.
With 1,471 keys spread across 14 hotels under several brands, the group has become Iceland's largest hotel operator.
The acquisition, according to BLand, is in keeping with the group's plans for geographic diversification and revenue growth.
Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) chief executive officer Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed said in a Twitter post last month that the Iceland hotels have bounced back swiftly as the quarantine limitations imposed by Covid-19 had been lifted.
According to Abdul Jalil, the global hotel industry has been difficult over the past 18 months due to pandemic-related movement limitations.
He said that whilst most of the group's overseas hotels suffer because of the pandemic, the hotels in Iceland are doing better.
Icelandair Hotels' website showed that hotel names under its umbrella comprise Icelandair Hotel, Hilton, Edda, Canopy, Konsulat and Alda, and they cater to various market segments.
BLand, in which BCorp owned a combined direct and indirect stake of 78.629 per cent, operates hotels in Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, and the UK.
For the 12 months to June 30, 2021 (FY 2021), BLand's net loss increased to RM250.64 million from RM36.84 million in the year before that due to the lockdown limitations.
Its new loss widened despite revenue increasing 4.73 per cent to RM5.4 billion from RM5.16 billion.
In a Bursa filing yesterday, the group attributed the revenue increase to its gaming operations and motor vehicle dealerships.
BLand said it had also completed and handed over a mixed development project in Dong Nai, Vietnam.
The group said that due to continued international border closures and domestic travel restrictions, its hotels and resorts business sector reported decreased revenue from lower average occupancy rates.
According to BLand, the hotels and resorts business categories suffered losses in the 12 months to June 30, 2021, with a bigger share of losses coming from related enterprises and joint ventures.
"The hospitality industry is quite dependent on international tourism and therefore solely reliant on domestic tourism is not sustainable during this pandemic," it said in the filing.
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