30th Jan 2015 10:31
LONDON (Alliance News) - Asian Citrus Holdings Ltd Friday said its first-half profit and revenue will be lower than the year before, due to a poor winter orange crop, after its plantations were hit by two typhoons during the period and its oranges were infected by citrus canker.
Back in November, the Chinese citrus fruit producer said its Hepu Plantation was heavily damaged by Typhoon Rammasun in July, which meant that the company suffered widespread crop loss and would only be able to supply a total of around 7,100 tonnes of winter oranges from Hepu in the second half of 2014, down 71% compared to 24,699 tonnes in the previous year.
In a trading update Friday, Asian Citrus said the actual winter orange crop yield of Hepu Plantation was approximately 7,146 tonnes.
However, while the Hepu Plantation's winter orange crop was in line with expectations, tonnage at its Xinfeng Planation fell short.
"The actual winter orange crop yield of Xinfeng Planation was approximately 103,847 tonnes, which was below the tonnage indication of 113,600 tonnes given" in November, the company said.
The orange crop from the Xinfeng Plantation in the period was down almost 18% year-on-year.
The total production yield of winter oranges for the group fell to 110,993 tonnes in the six month period, down 25% on last year's 147,927 tonnes.
"Additionally, the average selling price of the group's winter orange crop was approximately 2.9% lower compared to the prior year," the company said.
"This reduction reflected both extensive typhoon damage in Hepu Plantation from Typhoon Rammasun in July 2014 and Typhoon Seagull in September 2014, and the poor appearance of oranges infected by citrus canker," it added.
Citrus canker is a disease that causes lesions on the leaves, stems and fruit of citrus trees, which is not harmful to humans but means the products become unsightly.
Asian Citrus said its profitability has also been hurt by a higher volume of fertilisers and pesticides consumed to minimise further damage from citrus canker infection, and by soil leaching in plantation areas as a result of the impact of typhoons. The company said it expects this high-cost environment to continue in the short term.
The company said the sale tonnage volume from its processed fruit business, which involves the manufacture and sale of fruit juice concentrates, purees and frozen fruit and vegetables, was approximately 23,952 tonnes in the first-half.
"This represents a decrease of approximately 17.1% in comparison to the sale tonnage volume of 28,887 tonnes in the same period last year and the business saw continued margin pressure," the company said.
The company said it will release its interim results in late February.
Asian Citrus shares were trading 6.7% lower mid-morning Friday at 6.65 pence.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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