Duty Free International (5SO) H2 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY2024 revenue rose 3.6% YoY to RM157.3m and profit before tax increased 3.5% to RM18.0m; profit for the year fell 8.9% to RM14.0m.

• Fourth-quarter revenue declined 1.3% YoY to RM48.5m and profit for the period fell 28.4% to RM5.6m.

• H2 FY2024 revenue decreased 5.8% YoY to RM87.3m; operating profit after tax before non-controlling interests declined 32.9% to RM8.0m.

Financial highlights

• FY2024 operating profit was RM25.1m, up 4.5% YoY; finance costs rose 7.2% to RM7.1m and income tax expense rose to RM4.0m from RM2.0m.

• Owners’ net income was RM14.0m versus RM15.6m in FY2023; basic and diluted EPS were 1.17 sen versus 1.30 sen.

• Q4 operating profit was RM8.8m, down 11.7% YoY; PBT was RM7.1m versus RM8.3m and owners’ net income was RM5.5m versus RM7.8m.

• FY2024 operating cash flow was RM43.2m versus RM1.8m used in FY2023; cash and cash equivalents ended the year at RM177.8m.

Outlook and guidance

• The retail environment is expected to remain challenging over the next 12 months; priorities include cost control, operational efficiency and adapting to changing conditions.

• Goodwill impairment testing used FY2025–FY2029 revenue growth assumptions of 5%–10%, a 2.2% long-term growth rate and pre-tax discount rates of 14.3%–14.5%; no impairment was recorded.