Yoma Strategic Q1 profit hit by $15.9m loss as expenses skyrocket

Finance expenses rose to $15.6m amidst losses from USD appreciation.

Yoma Strategic was hammered by a $15.9m loss in Q1 for the financial year 2019 amidst ballooning expenses brought about by currency translation losses, according to its financial statement.

Administrative expenses rose by $4.6m to $17m in Q1 due to the higher staff costs, rents and land lease expenses related with the Yoma Central Project.

Finance expenses also hit $15.6m in Q1 as the Singapore Dollar and the Myanmar Kyat weakened against the greenback, resulting in a $11.3m currency translation loss due to the company’s USD denominated borrowings.

“Whilst Yoma F&B and Yoma Financial Services continue to grow steadily, our results are negatively impacted by the large currency translation losses from our USD borrowings, which are used to finance our businesses tied to USD,” Melvyn Pun, Yoma Strategic CEO said in a statement.

Share of losses of associated companies and joint ventures also amounted to $3.2m which was primarily attributed to the losses incurred by Memories Group Limited and Access Myanmar Distribution Company Limited.

Revenue, however, rose 13.9% YoY to $29.4m in Q1 amidst a stabilising property market with revenue generated from sales of residences and land development rights soaring 63.9% YoY to $10.2m thanks to sold units at Pun Hlaing Estate, StarCity Galaxy Towers Two and Four and The Peninsula Residences Yangon.

Yoma’s F&B sector also performed strongly after revenue rose 46.8% YoY thanks to new store openings and strong sales of its KFC business. The company’s revenue from the Financial Services business also rose 12.2% YoY to $1.9m.

However, revenue from the motors segment crashed 26.9% YoY to $7.5m due to slower tractor and implement sales in the New Holland business. It only sold 125 tractors and 346 implements in Q1 2019 compared to 243 tractors and 443 implements in the same period last year.