KUALA LUMPUR: WCT Holdings Bhd dipped into the red with a higher net loss of RM190.751 million in the year ended December 31, 2020 (FY20) from a net loss of RM27.32 million a year ago.
WCT said this was mainly due to the business disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed by the government.
Group revenue eased 7.10 per cent to RM1.70 billion from RM1.83 billion in 2019.
WCT said it had posted RM157 million loss in 2020 from a loss of RM34 million in the preceding year.
Excluding the impairment of assets, the group would have recorded a net profit of RM18 million for the year, 13 per cent higher than RM16 million in the preceding year.
For the fourth quarter, WCT posted a net loss of RM199.99 million from a net loss of RM103.67 million previously, while revenue rose 8.9 per cent to RM547.23 million from RM502.59 million.
WCT said given the severe impact of Covid-19 and disruptions to its business operations during the MCO to curb the spread of the pandemic, the value of its investment properties, hotels, lands held for development and completed inventories were impaired by about RM175 million during the fourth quarter.
The group's engineering and construction division remains the main contributor, accounting for RM1,257 million or 74 per cent of its consolidated revenue (FY2019: RM1.29 billion).
Its property development division registered lower operating profit of RM48 million (FY2019: RM95 million) on the back of lower revenue of RM279 million (FY2019: RM347 million).
The property investment and management division recorded a revenue and operating loss of RM173 million and RM4.0 million respectivelly compared to the preceding year's revenue and operating profit of RM203 million and RM116 million respectively.
Group managing director Datuk Lee Tuck Fook said despite the uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the group's engineering and construction division had leveraged on its strong order book.
"In 2021, we will continue to focus on project execution, whilst pursuing new opportunities for engineering and construction jobs to replenish our outstanding order book of some RM5.0 billion," said Lee.
Meanwhile, Lee said the limited movement and temporary closure of businesses during the MCO period had resulted in a drop in demand for the group's products and services.
The group expects the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to lift market sentiments and stimulate the demand for its property development offers and launches in 2021.
"The expected easing of travel restrictions coupled with renewed consumer confidence and pent-up consumer demand are anticipated to revitalise the five retail malls under the group's management, in particular the airport malls as well as the hotels and business aviation services.
"The group's immediate focus will be on maintaining the company's resilience during these trying times and its recovery from the significant adverse impacts of the pandemic," Lee said.