Pacific Andes Q1 net profit down 11.7% to HK$128.2m

FROZEN fish supplier Pacific Andes Resources Development (PARD) on Tuesday posted a 11.7 per cent fall in net profit to HK$128.2 million (S$22.4 million) for the first quarter ended Dec 28, 2014, down from HK$145.2 million a year ago.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) fell by 21.6 per cent to HK$466.9 million, while gross profit fell 22.3 per cent to HK$309.1 million.

Revenue decreased by 25.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) from HK$2.43 billion to HK$1.81 billion for the quarter, impacted by reduced contribution from the fishery and fish supply division (FFS), which accounted for 53 per cent of revenue, said the group.

Revenue from the FFS division fell by 14.7 per cent from HK$1.133 million to HK$966.6 million, while that from the frozen fish SCM division - which accounted for 46.7 per cent of total revenue - fell by 34.7 per cent to HK$845.2 million.

Despite a 7.0 per cent increase in the average selling prices of its products, sales contribution decreased due to lower trading volume as a result of the late delivery of fish products from suppliers, according to PARD.

"During the quarter ... the group's net-debt-to-equity improved from 90 per cent to 75.9 per cent, and net cash flow from operations increased by 3.8 times to HK$1.7 billion in the quarter. With the completion of the recent rights issue, we have further enhanced the group's capital structure, and thus the net-debt-to-equity has further reduced to below 70 per cent," said group chairman Ng Joo Siang.