Yamada Green posts 42.8% growth in Q4 profit

Yamada Green Resources, a Fujian-based producer of agricultural food products, enjoyed a 42.8 per cent growth in net profit for the fourth quarter ended June 30 to 24.68 million yuan (S$5.43 million), buoyed by fair value gains from biological assets and lower operating costs.

Revenue declined by 10.1 per cent year on year to 73.24 million yuan for the quarter due to a contraction in sales of its self-cultivated shiitake mushrooms, revenue from its cultivation business segment and processed food product segment, partially mitigated by revenue generated from its moso bamboo business line.

During the quarter, the group saw a decline in gross profit margins in both its cultivation business and processed food products segment.

Yamada's full-year net profit marked a 15.9 per cent drop to 86.23 million yuan on the back of a 17.6 per cent fall in revenue to 503.94 million yuan.

For fiscal 2016, the group said it will continue to focus on building its cultivation business and processed food business. It has expanded its moso bamboo plantations from 33,845 mu to 115,992 mu in fiscal 2015, representing an increase of more than three-fold.

"With the expansion of our bamboo business which generates a higher profit margin, we expect this business segment to continue to contribute positively to our group's profitability," Yamada said. "Additionally, part of the spring bamboo shoots harvested from our moso bamboo plantations will continue to be supplied to our processed food business segment as raw materials used in the production of processed bamboo shoots."

The group will commence harvesting bamboo trees from its newly-leased 67,000 mu of moso bamboo plantations in fiscal 2016 and start the operation of another newly-leased 15,147 mu of moso bamboo plantations. This is expected to translate to a year-on-year increase in total yield of bamboo trees and bamboo shoots.