Oceanus Q1 losses widen further

Abalone producer Oceanus Group's first quarter loss from continuing operations deepened further to 61 million yuan (S$13 million) from 19 million yuan a year ago.

Sales of aquaculture products came from processed marine products or canned abalone which amounted to 140,000 yuan.

There was no sale of live marine products over the period ended March 2015 as the newly-bred juvenile abalones need time to grow bigger - this should happen by next quarter - to fetch good prices.

Loss per share rose accordingly to 1.68 yuan from 0.47 yuan previously.

The firm said that prices of abalones and juveniles have shown some improvements during the year and it expects prices to remain stable at the current level.

Oceanus said it continues to review its operations and cut cost where possible. It has also started discussing and evaluating potential targets for possible merger & acquisition as part of the strategy to grow.