30th Jun 2015 10:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - United Cacao Ltd SEZC Tuesday reported a widened pretax loss in 2014 as it continues to expand its planted operations and prepares to make its first sales in 2016.
The Peruvian cacao plantation company, which listed on AIM in December and does not yet generate any revenue, reported a pretax loss in 2014 of USD3 million, wider than the USD694,855 loss it made in 2013.
United Cacao is in the process of expanding its planted operations from 320 hectares to 2,000 hectares by the end of 2015, which it said will make it the largest estate in Latin America. It had planted 1,150 hectares at the end of June, it said.
The company said it expects to make its first commercial sale in 2016 and anticipates that production numbers will continue to rise until around 2021 when the estate will reach peak maturity at a minimum of 2.5 tonnes per hectare, although United Cacao hopes it will be closer to 3.0 tonnes.
It said that while it has been harvesting pods from its fourth quarter 2013 plantings, it is using them as seedling material for its expanding nursery operations which it believes is more efficient than selling small volumes into the marketplace.
"The past 12 months have been transformative for the company. Our listings in London and Lima have given us the necessary strong foundations to become one of the world's largest and lowest cost corporate growers of traceable and sustainable cacao," Chief Executive Dennis Melka said in a statement.
"The remainder of 2015 will be an exciting period for the company as we continue to plant out the estate," he added.
Shares in United Cacao were trading up 1.3% at 207.75 pence Tuesday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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