BANGKOK, May 14: Charoen Pokphand Foods, Thailand’s largest meat and animal feed producer, reported a 92 percent fall in quarterly net earnings after core operations were hit by shrimp disease, which caused a sharp fall in aquaculture business sales.
CP Foods, the flagship of unlisted Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), owned by Thailand’s richest man, Dhanin Chearavanont, posted a net profit of 1.03 billion baht ($35 million) for the January-March period, versus a record profit of 12.1 billion baht a year earlier.
Excluding extraordinary gains, CP Foods is estimated to have posted a loss from core operations of 1.1 billion baht, analysts said.
The company booked an investment gain of 2.1 billion baht, which analysts said came from selling a stake in convenience store operator CP All in the quarter.
Its financial statement showed it posted a loss of 266.8 million baht from a change in the fair value of its biological assets and a foreign exchange loss of 111 million baht.
Analysts expect CP Foods to return to profit in its core operations in second quarter, but a bird flu outbreak in China could affect its Hong Kong-listed unit, C.P. Pokphand Co , which runs 80 animal feed plants in 28 of 31 provinces in China.
Shares in CP Foods, valued at $8 billion, have dropped 26 percent in the past 12 months, underperforming a 28 percent gain in the main Thai index.
($1 = 29.69 Baht)
(AGENCIES)
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