SINGAPORE (Feb 28): Food Empire has announced that it has reversed out of the red in 4Q18 with earnings of US$2.72 million ($3.67 million), compared to a loss of US$2.75 million in 4Q17.
This brings FY18 earnings to US$18.1 million, 28.0% higher than US$14.1 million in FY17.
However, revenue for the quarter dropped by 5.6% to US$70.0 million from US$74.1 million last year, mainly due to lower contribution from most of the group’s markets – Russia, Kazakhstan and CIS markets, Indochina, and other markets – except Ukraine.
Revenue from the group’s largest market, Russia, dropped 6.4% y-o-y to US$27.1 million due to the depreciation of the Russian Ruble against the USD.
Revenue from the group’s Kazakhstan and CIS markets fell 19.2% y-o-y to US$9.27 million, mainly due to the depreciation of the Kazakhstan Tenge against the USD.
As cost of sales declined by 5.3% y-o-y to US$43.2 million, 4Q18 gross profit came in at US$26.8 million, 5.9% lower than US$28.5 million a year ago.
General and administrative expenses increased by 46.6% y-o-y to US$13.4 million.
During the quarter, the group recorded share of profit of associates of US$0.23 million, compared to a loss of US$3.81 million in the previous year.
As at end-Dec 2018, the group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at US$42.2 million.
The group has proposed a first and final cash dividend of 0.68 cents per share.
For the upcoming period, the group will be focusing on entrenching market presence in core markets whilst developing new products and markets with the objective of generating sustainable future growth through diversification. It is also working on the construction of its second India coffee plant to ensure it meets the delivery milestones.
Tan Wang Cheow, executive chairman of Food Empire says, “The Group’s performance remains stable despite challenging global economic environment. This is largely due to our strong focus on brand building and purposeful effort to diversify our markets and products. Going forward, we will continue to explore various initiatives to ensure the Group is well positioned for sustainable future growth.”
Shares in Food Empire closed 1 cent higher at 56 cents on Thursday.
