Fraser & Neave's post-tax profit slid 1.5% to $105.57m in H1

The increase is attributable to strong performance of beverages and dairies in Thailand.

Fraser and Neave's (F&N) post-tax profit slid 1.5% YoY in H1 FY 2020 to $105.57m from $107.17m in 2019. Meanwhile, F&N’s revenue posted an expansion of 4.8% to $976.69m over the same period.

Also read: Fraser & Neave's profits rose 4.3% to $58.3m in Q1 FY 2020

In addition, the group’s H1 2020 profit before interest and taxation (PBIT) increased 3.9% to $141.88m from $136.59m in 2019, supported by strong performance of beverages and dairies in Thailand.

Higher beverages and dairies sales delivered a growth of 6% to $850.3m, from $803.3m in the same period last year. Revenue from beverages, composed of soft drinks and beer, also grew 2.4% to $241.1m. The increase is due to maiden contribution from Emerald Brewery Myanmar Limited (EBML).

Beverages’ earnings more than doubled to $7.6m from $3.2m over the same period. The growth was attributed to lower marketing spend, offsetting higher logistics, and gestation expenses associated with EBML.

However, soft drink revenues over the same period fell 4% attributable to flooding in Malaysia and adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in March.

Revenue from dairies in H1 also inched up 7.3% to $609.2m from $567.9m in the corresponding period of last year, bolstered by improved route-to-market, export revenue, launches of new products in Malaysia and Thailand and favourable translation effect of +3% in constant currency.

Meanwhile, printing and publishing achieved a revenue of $126.2m, and a corresponding PBIT loss of $11m. This stems from the closure of print plants in China and Malaysia, significant weak retail traffic flow, and the deferment of textbook adoptions in key markets.

Further, interim dividend directors declared an interim dividend of 1.5 cents per share, unchanged from 2019, which will be paid on 18 June.