F&B manufacturer Fraser and Neave (F&N) announced that its FY2021 ended September earnings have dropped some 5.9% to $140.4 million from $149.2 million in FY2020.
Revenue for the period increased by 2.5% to $1.9 billion from $1.8 billion a year ago, but cost of sales saw a larger increase of 4.7% y-o-y to $1.3 billion, bringing gross profit to $583.0 million, 2.2% lower than $595.9 million a year ago. The increase in revenue was thanks to higher contribution from the group’s F&B division.
Overall beverages revenue of $452.7 million was 3.0% higher as compared to last year. The increase was mainly due to the ramp up in sales volume at Emerald Brewery, which is in its second year of operations, favourable sales performance in Indonesia and aided by the distribution of functional products.
See: F&N reports 16.1% higher earnings of $83.4 mil for the 1H21 on higher revenue, gross profit
Dairies revenue at $1.19 billion increased 2.3% from $1.16 billion as compared to last year. This was mainly attributed to Dairies Malaysia and Dairies Thailand, driven by higher domestic canned milk sales and stronger export volumes.
Despite the on-going uncertainties surrounding the resurgence of Covid-19 and a volatile global economy, Printing and Publishing (P&P) managed to stabilise its business performance and remain resilient, achieving a revenue of $222.4 million, a marginal decline of 3.3% compared to last year.
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Other income for the period declined by 67.1% y-o-y to $7.7 million.
During the period, the group’s share of results of joint venture companies recorded a loss of $3.2 million, compared to a profit of $2.1 million last year.
As at end-Sept, cash and cash equivalents stood at $471.8 million.
The board has recommended a final dividend of 3.5 cents for the FY2021 period, unchanged from the previous year. The final dividend is payable on Feb 14, 2022. Along with the interim dividend of 1.5 cents already paid, F&N would have distributed a total of 5.0 cents per share in dividends for FY2021.
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Koh Poh Tiong, chairman of the F&B board executive committee says, “As we transition into the ‘new normal’, we shall continue to stay agile and leverage our multiple engines of growth to position us well for the future. Our leading brands, wide diversified product portfolio, and strong distribution network in our core markets will continue to stand us in a good stead, as the economies emerge from lockdowns and movement restrictions, and progressively reopen borders.”
Shares in F&N closed at $1.45 on Nov 5.
Photo: F&N
