SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) – Seafood restaurant operator Jumbo Group saw its net loss widen to $11.8 million for the full year ended Sept 30, from $8.2 million a year ago.

This was mainly due to the challenging operating environment amid Covid-19 restrictions, particularly in Singapore, Jumbo’s biggest market, the group said in a bourse filing on Wednesday (Nov 24).

Loss per share stood at 1.8 cents for the full-year period, from 1.3 cents a year ago.

Revenue for financial year 2021 fell 16.2 per cent to $81.8 million, from $97.6 million a year ago. Jumbo noted that for financial year 2020 it still had pre-Covid-19 revenue and profitability to mitigate its financial performance.

No dividend was declared for the full year, unchanged from a year ago.

As the group continued to incur losses due to the challenging operating environment, Jumbo said it was conserving liquidity to support working capital requirements, as well as carefully assessing growth investments and developments.

Meanwhile, net loss for the second half narrowed to $7.5 million, from $10.3 million a year ago. Revenue rose 17.8 per cent to $36.4 million, from $30.9 million a year ago.

Group chief executive and executive director Ang Kiam Meng noted that Jumbo is “hardly out of the woods yet” from the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, he said the group will continue to explore means to drive new revenue streams and stay relevant with the market.

“Backed by our healthy balance sheet, we are confident of riding through this uncertainty,” he added.

Shares of Jumbo closed flat at 30.5 cents on Wednesday.