Article – BusinessDesk

Feb. 28 (BusinessDesk) – Goodman Fielder Ltd., the Australasian food company with brands ranging from Vogel’s bread to Meadow Fresh milk and yoghurt, posted a 3.1% gain in first-half profit on improved margins for fats and oils, baking and home …

Goodman Fielder fattens margin in 1H as sales fall, sees flat full-year profit

Feb. 28 (BusinessDesk) – Goodman Fielder Ltd., the Australasian food company with brands ranging from Vogel’s bread to Meadow Fresh milk and yoghurt, posted a 3.1% gain in first-half profit on improved margins for fats and oils, baking and home ingredients.

Profit rose to A$93.1 million in the six months ended Dec. 31, from A$90.3 million in the previous year, the Sydney-based company said in a statement. Sales fell 2.2% to A$1.34 billion.

The company’s shares fell 2% to $1.24 on the ASX. The company said earnings growth would likely stall in the full year, given “uncertainty around ongoing trading conditions and the cumulative impact of successive natural disasters,” including floods in Australia and the Christchurch earthquake. Chief executive Peter Margin is leaving Goodman Fielder on April 30 after more than five years running the company is currently looking for a replacement. Chief financial officer David Goldsmith leaves this month.

Goodman Fielder stock is rated a ’hold’ based on the consensus of 12 recommendations compiled by Reuters. The company will pay an interim dividend of 5.25 Australian cents a share, unchanged from a year earlier.

At the company’s fresh baking unit, which includes Molenberg, Nature’s Fresh and Wonder White brand loaves, sales fell 1.1% to A$534 million. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 6.4% to A$81.6 million as its EBITDA margin widened 1.1 points to 15.3%.

Home ingredients revenue fell 4.6% to A$246 million while earnings gained 7.9% to A$53 million. The unit’s margin climbed 2.5 points to 21.5%.

Fresh milk and meats listed sales by 0.3% to A$223 million, while earnings fell 1.9% to A$30.4 million as its margin narrowed 1.9 points to 13.6%.

Integro Foods, the unit that holds its commercial fats and oils assets that Goodman Fielder was prevented by Australia’s antitrust regulator from selling to Cargill, had a 5.1% drop in sales to A$177 million, though EBITDA soared 99% to A$24 million and its margin widened 7.1 points to 13.6%.

The company’s Asia Pacific division recorded a 1.6% decline in sales to A$156.6 million, with earnings rising 3.7% to $31.2 million and its margin rising 1 point to 19.9%.

Goodman Fielder reduced its net debt by A$88 million to A$893 million as at Dec. 31.

(BusinessDesk)

Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
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