KUCHING: Home-grown fast food restaurant chain operator Borneo Oil Bhd has aggressively expanded the network of its food outlets, adding 23 in the past 12 months to bring the total number of outlets to 164 as of March this year, thereby boosting sales.
In third quarter ended March 31, 2026 (3Q2026), the food and franchise operations (FFO) segment lifted its sales by 19 per cent to RM20.3 million from RM17.1 million in 3Q2025, driving the segment back to the black with profit of RM2.64 million from loss of RM1.74 million.
The loss incurred in 3Q2025 was primarily due to a RM2 million accounting adjustment for employee share option scheme (ESOS) expenses.
The FFO segment turnover accounted for more than 90 per cent of Borneo group revenue of RM22.5 million in 3Q2026.
The resources & sustainable energy (RSE) segment generated revenue of RM1.9 million whereas the property investment & management segment contributed revenue of RM276,000, and head office & others (HOO) segment chipped in RM9,000.
In 3Q2026, Borneo group sharply cut its net loss to RM2.82 million from RM70.4 million in 3Q2025 as revenue rose to RM22.5 million from RM20.7 million.
Losses per share were reduced to 0.02sen from 0.53sen.
The huge loss in 3Q2025 was due mainly to fair value loss of RM64.34 million in quoted securities held in Verde Resources Inc (OTC Markets:VRDR) .
In the current quarter under review, Borneo said the HOO segment quarterly loss was considerably slashed to RM2.98 million from RM68.54 million incurred in 3Q2025.
“This recovery was primarily driven by stabilised fair value losses on Verde Resources quoted securities.
Notably, while VRDR closed the quarter at US$0.0538 per share, its stock has since trended upward and is currently trading at approximately US$0.075 per share (as at late May 2026),” Borneo said in explanatory notes to its financials.
On June 3, VRDR closed at US$0.085.
On the performance of the RSE segment, Borneo said its revenue fell to RM1.9 million from RM3.25 million in 3Q2025, with the gold mining division contributed RM1.29 million in revenue, equivalent to 2.299 kilogrammes of gold with the commencement of gravitation processing operations at the gold mine project in Pahang.
“The group is currently undertaking preparations for the carbon-in-leach cum vat leaching process and the construction of a gold elution and electro winning process room to enhance gold extraction yield.
The new processing facilities are targeted to commence operations by the end of September 2026,” it added.
In 3Q2026, Borneo Oil also reported a dramatic improvement in group pre-tax loss of RM2 million as compared to loss of RM33.1 million in the immediate preceding quarter largely due to the fair value losses on Verde Resources as its price then fell to RM0.25 million.
On a nine-month period in FY2026 (9m29026), Borneo Oil narrowed its group net loss to RM45 million (9m29025:-RM210 million) as its revenue grew to RM63.7 million (RM59.8 million).
Going forward, the group said the resilient Malaysia’s economic outlook, supported by firm domestic demand, favourable market conditions and a low unemployment rate, are expected to continue providing a relatively stable operating environment for the group in 4Q2026.
Borneo Oil also said the group remains focused on the disciplined execution of its strategic initiatives, enhancing operational efficiencies, and pursuing targeted investments in its core growth area, Meanwhile, Borneo Oil had offered 265 million ESOS options to eligible persons on May 25, 2026.
The exercise price of the options offered is RM0.0052 each against the closing market price of the shares of RM0.005 on the day.
The vesting period of the ESOS options offered is three months.
