29 April 2008 - Group turnover for the first quarter of 2008 (vs 1Q2007) grew 2.2% to $176.4m. PBT was 23.5% higher to $18.1m as a result of improved performance in Singapore and one-off gains
Turnover from Singapore operations registered a growth of 13.1% to $65.1m, and PBT rose 14.4% to $7.5m.
Turnover from UK/Europe operations registered a drop of 4.6% to $101.0m and PBT was 13.5% lower at $7.2m, mainly due to the 7.7% appreciation of the Singapore dollar vis-àvis the Pound Sterling which had a negative $0.9m impact on earnings. In pound terms, the UK/Europe operations registered a 3.4% increase in sales, with profits slightly lower by 2.8%.
“Both the Singapore and UK operations delivered improvements in their underlying business performance. However, the strong Singapore Dollar had an adverse impact when translating the Pound Sterling results of our UK operations into Singapore Dollars,” said Mr Roger Yeo, CEO.
In Singapore, Food Distribution sales were up by 10.8% while Food Catering sales were higher by 14.9%. Abattoir and Hog Auction revenues were up 20.8%.
In the UK, Daniels’ sales for the first quarter grew 7.6% in pound terms while International Cuisine Limited, sales were 3.9% lower. Farmhouse Fare sales saw a drop of 8.7% and Irish subsidiary, Cresset, also attained lower sales for the quarter.
In other overseas operations, sales grew 12.4%. Australian operations benefited from a one-off net gain of $3.7m following the receipt of a government grant.
Outlook
The successful renewal of our key catering contract in Singapore is a positive development. The catering business will face cost pressure on raw materials and labour but this is somewhat mitigated by a price adjustment mechanism under the contract with our key customer. On the whole, performance in Singapore is expected to remain positive.
UK operations are expected to continue to do well in the local currency (£) terms.
Overall, the outlook for FY2008 is for growth in earnings over FY2007
No comments:
Post a Comment