26th Sep 2014 08:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Asian Citrus Holdings Ltd Friday said it swung to a loss in its last financial year as revenue was hit by lower production and it booked impairments for the damage caused by a summer Typhoon, and it said it won't pay a dividend due to the loss.
The Chinese citrus fruit producer reported a pretax loss of CNY1.84 billion for the financial year ended June 30, compared with a pretax profit of CNY124.7 million a year earlier, as revenue for the year declined more than 14% to CNY1.27 billion, from CNY1.49 billion, and it booked big impairment losses and losses on the fair value of biological assets.
Asia Citrus issued a statement last month warning that revenue and its "core net profit" would be lower for the financial year just ended, on top of booking around CNY36 million in impairment losses due to damage caused by Typhoon Rammasun, which hit Southern China in July.
The company's "core net profit" refers to its profit excluding the change in the carrying value of goodwill, change in the fair value of biological assets and share-based payments.
It said average selling prices of both oranges and processed fruit were lower during its last financial year, while the production yield of its orange crop fell 9% and it booked higher direct costs as a result of inclement weather.
The typhoon had caused widespread damage in Guangxi, China, where its Hepu Plantation is located. At the time, the company said the typhoon destroyed 221,769 banana trees planted at its Hepu plantations, meaning there will be no harvest in September. It said damage had been caused to certain farmland infrastructure and machinery and buildings, and its Beihai Juice Concentrates factories had to temporarily suspend activity at two of its production plants.
It said the typhoon also caused a significant volume of fruit to pre-mature drop from its existing oranges trees in the Hepu plantation, which will result in decreased production yield for the upcoming winter and summer crops in the financial year of 2015.
The company said Friday that results for the year were as expected.
Asia Citrus did not pay any dividends for the year, having paid a total dividend of CNY0.10 per share last year.
"In view of the group's net loss for the year, the board does not recommend the payment of any dividend for the year. The group is taking a prudent approach in managing its capital and reserves to maintain the appropriate financial position and ensure sufficient funds are available to develop new products and growth opportunities, including through research and development and restructuring projects," the company said.
Asian Citrus shares were 1.7% lower Friday morning at 13.51 pence.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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