Deferred tax assets dent Del Monte's Q4 net profit

A US$14.3 million one-off expense dented Del Monte Pacific's Q4 net profit, which fell 87.4 per cent year-on-year to US$2.9 million.

In a filing to the local bourse on Thursday, the group said it wrote off US$11.5 million of deferred tax assets at its US subsidiary Del Monte Foods, Inc or DMFI due to continued pre-tax losses. The total one-off expense post-tax and post non-controlling interest came up to US$14.3 million.

Excluding the one-off expense, the group's net profit for the three months as at end April was up 16.5 per cent to US$17.2 million.

For the full year, net profit was down 57.2 per cent to US$24.4 million, including one-off items incurred from restructuring and the write off of deferred tax assets.

Excluding one-off items, net profit grew 80.1 per cent to US$45.5 million.

Including the one-off items, earnings per share for the quarter was 0.11 US cent, down from 1.19 cents, while it was 1.21 cents for the full year, down from 2.93 cents a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter rose 3.9 per cent to US$545.2 million.

For the full year, revenue dipped 0.9 per cent to US$2.3 billion.

The group said it expects its US business to improve its financial performance through procurement synergies and transformation, footprint rationalisation and optimisation of G&A (general and administrative) costs through the multiyear restructuring initiative that started in FY2016.

In the mid-to-long term, it said it would continue to strengthen its core business and develop new products in the US to unlock the growth potential of its products and brands.