Del Monte Pacific narrows Q1 loss to US$8.7 million

LOWER operating expenses as a result of a restructuring that started last year gave a fillip to Del Monte Pacific Limited's first quarter results of its 2017 financial year.

Net loss narrowed to US$8.7 million, from a net loss of US$10.7 million in the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Friday morning.

For the three months ended July 31, revenue shrank 2.8 per cent to US$465.5 million from the preceding year. The drop in revenue was due to lower non-branded sales in the US, though this was partially offset by the strong performance of the Del Monte brand in the Philippines and the S&W brand in the rest of Asia , it said.

Q1 loss per share narrowed to 0.45 US cents, from a loss per share of 0.55 US cents in the year-ago period.

The group said that the first quarter is seasonally its weakest one, accounting for only 19-21 per cent of full year sales. These would peak in the second and third quarters around Thanksgiving and Christmas.