KUALA LUMPUR: Tamadam Bonded Warehouse Bhd has become a franchisee of Italy-based food and beverage entity Café Barbera in Malaysia under a 10-year deal with the licensor.

In a statement to the exchange yesterday, Tamadam said its wholly owned subsidiary Café Barbera (SEA) Sdn  Bhd had signed a licence agreement with Café Barbera Franchise, FZE.

Tamadam group provides bonded warehousing, freight forwarding and transportation services, as well as in-flight catering services.

Tamadam and Lufthansa Sky Chefs hold 51% and 49% of Brahim’s-LSG Sky Chefs Holdings Sdn Bhd respectively, which is turn holds a 70% of LSG Sky Chefs Brahim’s Sdn Bhd (LSGB). Malaysian Airline System Bhd holds the remaining 30% in LSGB, formerly MAS Catering Sdn Bhd.

Tamadam yesterday said the agreement allowed it to use trademarks of “Cafe Barbera” besides its logos, insignia, labels, trademarks and trade names for the establishment and operation of its outlets in Malaysia.

In a separate statement to the bourse, Tamadam said the firm and Japan-based Netz Toyota Kyoto Co Ltd had agreed to terminate the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by both companies in June this year.

The purpose of the MoU is to establish a joint-venture company to undertake automobile service centre operations in Malaysia.

In its latest quarterly results, Tamadam posted a net profit of RM1.64 million for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2009 versus RM661,000 a year earlier, while revenue rose 7% to RM38.41 million from RM35.87 million.

For the nine months to Sept 30, net profit stood at RM3.05 million versus a net loss of RM1.18 million a year earlier, while revenue surged 60% to RM110.93 million from RM69.51 million. Basic earnings per share rose to 1.71 sen from a loss of 1.32 sen.

As at Sept 30, 2009, the group had cash and bank balances totalling RM11.75 million.

On its prospects, Tamadam had said revenue for the in-flight catering division was expected to remain stable, while an increase in revenue from MAS was forecast.

It said the net loss for the logistics division had reduced to RM1.09 million for the third quarter compared with a net loss of RM1.29 million in the previous quarter.

Tamadam said the outlook for the logistics division continued to be very challenging and the management was continuing to take measures to turn the division around.

The group’s catering division services the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Penang airport. LSGB has other airline customers besides MAS. According to its financial statements, Tamadam’s catering division makes up the bulk of the group’s revenue.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 29, 2009.