The food and beverage group, controlled indirectly by Berjaya Corp Bhd founder Vincent Tan, posted a net profit of RM15.94 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

BFood owns and operates the Starbucks franchise in Malaysia. Starbucks is one of a number of US-based chains, including McDonalds and Burger King, that has been boycotted by Malaysians angered by the US’s support of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

Revenue for the quarter tumbled 47.85% to RM138.65 million from RM265.85 million a year ago, the group said in a bourse filing today.

However, the group managed to narrow its losses from the previous quarter when it posted a RM42.58 million net loss.

For the cumulative nine-month period, BFood posted a net loss of RM53.31 million versus a net profit of RM86.13 million a year ago. Revenue dropped 28.96% to RM599.74 million from RM844.22 million over the corresponding period.

Its financial performance was also impacted by a one-off loss from the disposal of the company’s entire equity interest in Jollibean Foods Pte Ltd.

BFood expects its operating performance to gradually improve over the remaining quarter of the financial year ending June 30, 2024.

Berjaya Corp, a conglomerate founded by Tan in 1984, has a 55% deemed interest in BFood, according to its latest annual report.

A Bloomberg report in early April said Tan was considering taking BFood private and was in talks with banks about financing for a potential buyout deal.

Founded in 2009, Berjaya Food also runs brands including the Kenny Rogers Roasters chain of restaurants in Malaysia. As of June 30, 2023, Starbucks had 393 stores nationwide while Kenny Rogers Roasters had 80 stores.

BFood’s shares closed 1 sen or 1.63% lower at 60.5 sen today, valuing the group at RM1.17 billion.