17th Jul 2008 10:15
For immediate release 17 July 2008
Asian Citrus Holdings Limited
("Asian Citrus" or "the Group")
Trading Update
Asian Citrus, the largest orange plantation owner and operator in China, announces that the latest yield from its Summer Orange crop at its Hepu Plantation was 71,027 tonnes compared with 71,200 tonnes for the same harvest undertaken at the same time last year. The yield of the Summer crop is in line with management's expectations for summer production following the Group's ongoing replanting programme at the Hepu Plantation. The programme, which commenced in January 2007, has, to date, resulted in the replacement of approximately 55,000 winter orange trees and 76,000 summer orange trees (together, 10.5% of the number of trees at the Hepu Plantation) with a similar number of better quality summer species trees that have stronger resistance to disease and produce a higher yield.
The annual yield for the Group increased from approximately 121,091 tonnes to about 130,308 tonnes in the current year which represents an increase of approximately 7.6%.
In addition to the improved yield, an increase in the average selling price of the Group's products resulted in unaudited annual revenue increasing to approximately RMB527.0 million for the year ended 30 June 2008, approximately 9.9% up on the previous year.
The full year results of the Group for the year ending 30 June 2008 are due to be published in mid-October 2008.
About Asian Citrus Holdings Limited
Asian Citrus Holdings Limited is the largest orange plantation owner and operator in China and has two plantations in the Hepu county of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Xinfeng county of the Jiangxi province of China. Its primary goal is to sell quality oranges at an affordable price and in so doing, strengthen its position as a leading, mechanised and industrialised orange grower and distributor in China.
For Further Information Contact:
Terry Garrett/John Moriarty/Stephanie Badjonat
Weber Shandwick Financial 0207 067 0700
Michael Wentworth-Stanley/James Mitford/Gina Gibson
JPMorgan Cazenove 0207 588 2828
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