logo
CIMB cuts Berjaya Food forecasts amid weak Q3, sluggish sales recovery

CIMB cuts Berjaya Food forecasts amid weak Q3, sluggish sales recovery

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Food Bhd is expected to see slower-than-expected sales recovery after its core net loss widened in the third quarter ended March 31, 2025 (Q3FY25).
CIMB Securities has raised its core net loss estimates for the company to RM133 RM133million, RM74 million and RM23 million for financial year 2025 (FY25), FY26 and FY27, respectively.
The estimates were revised upwards from the previous forecast of RM104 million, RM61 million and RM20 million.
The firm also lowered its target price for the stock to 28 sen from 32 sen previously.
Berjaya Food reported a core net loss of RM36.7 million in 3QFY25, after adjusting for one-off items of RM0.5 million. This brought the cumulative nine-month core net loss to RM101.2 million, missing CIMB Securities' expectations at 97 per cent for the FY25 previous loss estimate and 110 per cent of the Bloomberg consensus forecast.
"The earnings miss is attributed to lower-than-expected revenue from Starbucks and Kenny Rogers Roasters operations, as well as higher-than-expected start-up costs for its overseas expansion efforts," it said in a note.
Berjaya Food is likely to post narrow losses in Q4 Q4FY25 following the end of Ramadan fasting in March. Additionally, the company has indicated early signs of recovery at its Malaysia Starbucks outlets, as the impact of the boycott related to the Israel-Palestine conflict appears to be easing.
"The group's ongoing efforts to rationalise its store network by closing underperforming outlets may also support loss mitigation."
The firm maintained its 'Reduce' call on the stock.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Starbucks shares rise as CEO Niccol's turnaround plans gains traction
Starbucks shares rise as CEO Niccol's turnaround plans gains traction

Malay Mail

time3 days ago

  • Malay Mail

Starbucks shares rise as CEO Niccol's turnaround plans gains traction

NEW YORK, July 30 — Starbucks shares rose over 4 per cent before the bell on Wednesday as the coffee chain's quarterly strong sales beat signaled that CEO Brian Niccol's turnaround plan was bearing fruit. A simplified menu and investments in store and labor operations were some of the highlights of Niccol's 'Back to Starbucks' initiative since he took the helm in August. The major brand reset follows several quarters of falling sales. 'It seems like the company is planning to be on offense next year once its new operating model is in place,' Morgan Stanley analysts said. Niccol yesterday laid out plans to upgrade the aesthetic design of stores, including a lower cost 'coffee house of the future' design and pledged more than half a billion dollar in investments in thousands of stores across the US next year. 'The goal has shifted from an initial 'Back to Starbucks' to an appropriately ambitious goal for a 'Better Starbucks,' where everyone can experience the best of Starbucks,' JP Morgan analysts said in a note. Tariff uncertainty and elevated inflation have hit US consumer sentiment, forcing some businesses to revamp their strategies. But for Starbucks, the drop in quarterly same-store sales, which refers to sales from stores open for at least 12 months, in its largest North America market was steady at 2 per cent. Meanwhile in China, same-store sales increased 2 per cent amid stiff competition from local rivals like Luckin Coffee and Cotti Coffee. Starbucks has been exploring options such as strategic partnerships and joint ventures for its China business, which was valued at up to US$10 billion (RM42.4 million, according to media reports earlier this month. Following the results, at least five brokerages raised price targets on the stock, while the company trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28. — Reuters

Tea-loving Nepal is warming up to coffee
Tea-loving Nepal is warming up to coffee

The Star

time3 days ago

  • The Star

Tea-loving Nepal is warming up to coffee

An employees pours coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. — AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha Coffee hasn't always been an easy sell in Nepal. The Himalayan country is a major tea producer, as well as a major consumer. When people greet each other in the morning, they don't ask "how are you.' They say "have you had your tea?' Tea - usually served with as a sweet, milky beverage in a piping hot glass tumbler - is as much a part of Nepal's culture as rice, a constant presence at homes, meetings and social gatherings. But a growing number of Nepalis are warming up to coffee, as trendy cafes spring up street corners in cities and towns across the country. One cafe in the capital, Kathmandu, is widely seen as the pioneer. A couple talks sitting outside a tea shop at Basantapur Durbar square in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Gagan Pradhan began Himalayan Java as a single cafe in an alley, and it's grown to a chain with 84 locations the country. Pradhan estimates there around 7,000 cafes across the country, although so far international brands like Starbucks aren't in Nepal. "There are lot of tea shops throughout the nation, but the kind of set up they have is still kind of old fashioned,' Pradhan said. "I think with investors and people like us, when it comes to coffee shop we are more serious not only with machines, we are serious with everything like the lighting, the set up, the furnishings, the location.' Pradhan said tea shops usually offer just black tea or tea with milk, whereas a typical coffee menu has 10-15 hot beverages and about 10-15 cold beverages, he said. An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Pradhan said it's an appealing business because the initial investment to open a cafe is very low, they're clean and simple enough for a single to family to run, and customers are willing to pay more for coffee. Several of eastern Nepal's tea plantations in the mountains of east Nepal, famous for the tea, are joined by coffee plantations now. Nepal is part of a regional trend. Coffee consumption has soared across traditionally tea-drinking countries in Asia as members of growing middle classes seek out novel flavors and adopt international trends. Coffee is a premium drink in Nepal: it costs about US$2 at Himalayan Java, which is enough to buy a meal at a local cafe in Kathmandu, or five cups of tea. Still, cafes bustle with officers workers on breaks and students looking for places to study. "I think the idea of drinking coffee (in Nepal) was first triggered with people thinking it would elevate their standard of living, but then once they tasted coffee many people just liked it and continued to drink it,' said Deep Singh Bandari, a social worker who is a regular visitor to the coffee cafes. Most of the coffee drunk in Nepal is imported, but in the country's famous eastern tea-growing regions coffee plantations are springing up. According to Nepal's National Tea and Coffee Development Board, about 400 tons of coffee was produced in fiscal year 2021-22, the most recent for which data is available. That's a drop in the percolator compared to the 26,000 tons of tea produced the same year, but the board predicts rapid growth. "Both young and old people in Nepal just love coffee, and the number of coffee drinkers is growing every day. This trend is just going to grow,' said Pradhan. – AP

Starbucks CEO backs brand reset as turnaround efforts drive sales beat
Starbucks CEO backs brand reset as turnaround efforts drive sales beat

The Star

time3 days ago

  • The Star

Starbucks CEO backs brand reset as turnaround efforts drive sales beat

STARBUCKS reported better-than-expected revenue rise for the third quarter, as demand in China improved while investments in labor and store operations, and changes to the menu helped it offset slowing consumer spending in its domestic market. The Seattle-based company's shares rose 3.6% to $96.33 in extended trading on Tuesday. After several quarters of falling sales, the coffee chain is in the midst of a "Back to Starbucks" initiative - a major brand reset - under CEO Brian Niccol. Since taking the top job in August, Niccol has pushed for a simplified menu, freshly baked food, cups with handwritten messages and quicker service. Niccol spoke expansively on Starbucks' turnaround efforts on Tuesday's post-earnings call, saying they were "ahead of expectations." He laid out examples of what was changing at stores and in customer experience. He said he wanted to change the "feel" of stores with "greater texture, warmth and layered design," and replace thousands of seats that were removed in recent years. By the end of 2026, at least 1,000 stores across North America will be upgraded, Niccol said. Starbucks is also piloting a new, lower-cost "coffee house of the future" design, featuring 32 seats and a drive-thru opening in 2026, along with a small-format version debuting soon in New York City. Niccol has pledged to increase investments in staffing in all 10,000-plus Starbucks-owned U.S. stores by the end of the summer. The company said it would invest over half a billion dollars of additional labor hours into its U.S. company-operated stores over the next year. Starbucks' net revenue rose 3.8% to $9.46 billion, beating analysts' estimate of $9.31 billion, although its overall same-store sales fell 2% for the quarter ended June 29, its sixth straight quarterly contraction. Analysts on average had estimated a 1.19% dip, according to data compiled by LSEG. In its largest North America market, the drop in quarterly same-store sales was flat at 2%. China comparable store sales increased 2%, compared with no growth in the second quarter. Intense competition from local rivals like Luckin Coffee and Cotti Coffee and increasingly frugal consumers prompted Starbucks to cut prices on select iced drinks by an average of 5 yuan last month. "The report came in less worse than expected, given some strength in China, but it remains a turnaround story," said Dave Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors. The company reported a profit of 50 cents per share on an adjusted basis, missing estimates of 65 cents. That excluded an 11 cent per share hit, partly from a leadership meet in Las Vegas earlier this year, when the company flew and housed more than 14,000 store managers and leaders from across North America to hear from corporate executives about the "Back to Starbucks" plan. Attendees were also treated to a private Bruno Mars concert. Operating margin in the third quarter contracted 650 basis points to 10.1% from the prior year, owing to higher spending tied to the business turnaround, additional labor hours and the leadership meet. "While there is still work to be done, the company's labor investments appear to be making a difference in peak-hour throughput," said R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Starbucks has been exploring options such as strategic partnerships and joint ventures for its China business, which was valued at up to $10 billion, according to media reports earlier this month. Executives said on Tuesday that the company had received significant interest from more than 20 interested parties and was evaluating its options as it aimed to retain a "meaningful stake" in the business. - Reuters

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store