Petra falls into Q3 loss on exceptional charges following settled dispute

PETRA Foods fell into a US$20.7 million third-quarter loss after incurring a US$19.5 million charge following a legal settlement.

The chocolate confectionary maker's loss was 3.39 US cents per share for the three months ended September. It had posted a net profit of US$10.5 million in the year-ago period.

For the first nine months of the year, Petra recorded a net loss of US$5.5 million, or 0.9 US cent per share.

The quarter's exceptional charge was a result of Petra having to pay US$38 million plus US$800,000 of interest to Barry Callebaut as an adjustment to the consideration for Petra's 2013 sale of its cocoa ingredients business to Barry Callebaut.

Petra's revenue also fell 28.4 per cent during the quarter to US$84.6 million.