Bonvests, Zhongxin Fruit and Juice issue profit warnings

PROPERTY group Bonvests Holdings and fruit-juice manufacturer Zhongxin Fruit and Juice both sounded profit warnings on Tuesday for their respective full and half fiscal years ended Dec 31, 2020.

Bonvests said it expects to record a loss for FY 2020 due primarily to decline in revenue resulting from the adverse impact of Covid-19, and will disclose further details regarding its performance when it announces its financial results next month.

Zhongxin said it is expected to report a net loss for the first half of FY 2020 due to impairment of property, plant and equipment recognised by its subsidiaries relating to idle plant and machinery. It had also recorded a significantly lower share of profit from its joint-venture company Linyi SDIC Zhonglu Fruit Juice Co Ltd, compared to the corresponding period last year on the back of decreased sales volume, which in turn led to lower revenue and gross profit.

Zhongxin said further details will be disclosed when the company finalises and announces its unaudited financial results for the period on or before Feb 14.

Separately, it had received a trading query from the Singapore Exchange in the middle of Tuesday afternoon, after its share price nearly doubled on heavy trading.

The counter closed at 3.1 Singapore cents on Monday, and opened at 3.5 cents on Tuesday morning. It gained 51.4 per cent or 1.8 Singapore cents within the first 25 minutes of trading, and then fell back 20.8 per cent to 4.2 Singapore cents as at 9.40am.

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Zhongxin made steady gains for the rest of the morning, and stood at 5.9 Singapore cents before the mid-day break. In the afternoon trading session, the counter gained a further 6.8 per cent as at 3.30pm, which prompted the bourse regulator to query the "unusual price and volume movements". Some 65 million shares in Zhongxin had changed hands over the course of the day.

SGX asked whether the company knew of a possible explanation for the trading activity, including any information not previously announced, or the public circulation of information by rumours or reports. Zhongxin was also asked to confirm its compliance with the Catalist listing rules.

The company responded at 5.22pm, saying it was unaware of any information not previously announced which, if known, might explain the trading activity.

The board added it was unaware of any other possible explanation for the trading, save for its profit warning, and added that the "unusual trading activity cannot be conclusively attributable to this matter". Zhongxin also confirmed its compliance with the listing rules.

Shares in Zhongxin closed at 6.4 Singapore cents on Tuesday, up 106.5 per cent or 3.3 cents. Shares in Bonvests ended the day at S$0.92, down 1.6 per cent or 1.5 Singapore cents.