KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd 's earnings dipped 0.67% to RM61.73mil in the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2017 from RM62.15mil a year ago due to lower revenue.However, it rewarded shareholders with a dividend of four sen a share – similar to a year ago.The numbers forecast operator (NFO) said on Monday the second dividend will amount to RM53.9mil. The total dividend distribution for the financial period ended Oct 31, 2017 was about RM107.8mil which was 79.2% of the attributable profit of the group.BToto's revenue fell nearly 4.9% to RM1.38bil from RM1.45bil a year ago. Owen Plc and the recognition of substantial project contract sales by International Lottery & Totalizator Systems, Inc. (ILTS) a year ago.However, the drop in revenue was mitigated by higher revenue registered by Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Sports Toto) and Philippine Gaming Management Corporation (PGMC).As the pre-tax level, BToto's pre-tax profit was up by 0.7% to RM96.1mil from RM95.4mil a year ago. The higher pre-tax profit was mainly due to Sports Toto.Loss on deemed partial disposal of equity interest in an associated company a year ago also contributed to the increase in group’s pre-tax profit.On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Sports Toto reported a 4.1% rise in revenue and 20.1% increase in pre-tax profit. Pre-tax profit increased by 10.6% mainly due to higher prize payout and operating expenses incurred a year ago.

Source: The Star December 18, 2017 11:03 UTC