SINGAPORE (Mar 14): Lifebrandz saw its losses in 2Q widen 18% to $0.6 million from $0.5 million a year ago, mainly due to an increase in total expenses which the group attributes to higher sales activities and business expansion.
Group revenue for the quarter grew 65% to $1.5 million from $0.9 million in 2Q18 on the back of higher revenue from the food and beverage (F&B) segment, out of which $0.9 million was contributed from the newly-opened Hashida Sushi restaurant in Singapore.
The remaining $0.2 million was contributed by Mulligans Pattaya in Thailand, as opposed to $0.3 million in revenue contributions the year before.
Meanwhile, revenue from the travel booking service segment fell 31% to $0.45 million from $0.66 million in the previous year. Lifebrandz says this is due to a slowdown of the travel business industry, as well as a more competitive in Japan.
Total expenses near-doubled to $2.2 million from $1.4 million in 2Q18 due to higher inventories and consumables, additional headcount across both F&B and travel booking segments, as well as operating lease expenses.
Lifebrandz says it is expecting another new, high-end sushi restaurant in San Francisco to be operational by March 2019, as it looks to open another two high-end Japanese restaurants overseas in “the near future”.
As for the travel segment, the group is currently in the process of expanding the business by extending services to both inbound domestic tours in Japan as well as overseas travelers from Japan to other countries.
Going forward, the group intends to continue exploring new business opportunities as well as control its costs to improve operational efficiency. It may also consider conducting fundraising exercises such as rights issues in order to strengthen its cash position for further business expansion and diversification activities.
Shares in the group closed flat at 0.7 cent on Wednesday.
