Don Agro FY19 profit falls 16.9% in first results since Catalist debut

RUSSIAN agri and dairy firm Don Agro on Monday posted a 16.9 per cent drop in net profit to S$5.2 million for the year ended Dec 31, 2019, from S$6.4 million a year ago.

The decline was mainly due to higher cost of sales and lower harvest prices compared with FY2018, said the newly listed company which made its market debut in February this year.

Earnings per share was 4.17 Singapore cents versus 5.11 cents a year ago.

Revenue jumped 45.3 per cent to S$35.4 million from S$24.4 million driven by an increase in sales from crop production, livestock and milk. 

A maiden final dividend of 0.693406 Singapore cent per share was recommended for fiscal 2019, which amounts to 20 per cent of the group's net profit for the year.

The group had previously stated in its prospectus its intention to distribute dividends of up to 20 per cent of net profit for FY2019, FY2020 and FY2021 to reward shareholders for participating in its growth. 

Following its initial public offering in February, the group said it plans to scale its business through the expansion of its arable land bank for its next phase of growth.

Don Agro's shares on Catalist closed up S$0.06 or 27.3 per cent to S$0.28 on Monday, before the release of its results.