Del Monte Pacific swings to black with US$19.2m Q4 profit

DEL Monte Pacific swung to the black in the final quarter ended April 30, 2016, recording a net profit of US$19.2 million compared with a loss of US$4.2 million a year ago.

The improvement was led by a one-off gain of US$8.4 million after tax as well as strong operating results across Asia.

Turnover fell 2.8 per cent to US$520 million owing to lower sales in the United States, which was partially offset by a strong performance in the Philippines under the Del Monte brand and the rest of Asia under the S&W brand, said the firm.

Earnings per share came in at 0.99 US cent from a loss per share of 0.25 US cent.

For the full year, it reported a profit of US$51.5 million versus a loss of US$43.2 million a year ago on the back of a nearly 4 per cent jump in revenue to US$2.3 billion.

The company declared a final dividend of 1.33 US cents per share, representing a 50 per cent payout of FY2016 net profit compared with none the previous year.