Petra Foods Q1 profit falls 42.8% on Indonesian slowdown

PETRA Foods' first-quarter net profit fell 42.8 per cent to US$7.7 million amid a slowdown in the Indonesian economy, the chocolate candy maker announced late on Wednesday.

On a per-share basis, Petra earned 1.27 US cents per share for the three months ended March 31. The stock closed at S$4 on Wednesday, up by 3.6 per cent or 14 Singapore cents, before the announcement.

Revenue fell 13.5 per cent to US$106.2 million during the quarter as Indonesian sales dropped 16.6 per cent to US$73.5 million. Indonesia's economy contracted for the second quarter in a row in the January-to-March period, government spending slowed and the Indonesian rupiah weakened against the US dollar.

"Our trade customers have reacted to reduce their inventory levels, which have negatively affected our sales," Petra said.

The company said that it expects the operating environment in Indonesia to remain "challenging" for the rest of the year, but the rate of decline in the first quarter should not continue throughout 2015.