Petra Foods posts US$13.5m Q1 profit

CHOCOLATE maker Petra Foods posted a net profit of US$13.5 million for the first quarter, against a net loss of US$14.9 million for the year-ago quarter which factored in a net loss of US$29 million from discontinued operations.

This translated into earnings per share of 2.22 US cents, compared with a loss of 2.43 US cents last year which included the results of its loss-making cocoa ingredients division that has since been sold off.

Excluding results from discontinued operations for both periods, net profit atttributable to equity-holders from continuing operations fell 1.6 per cent to US$13.9 million for the three months ended March 31, hit by weakening regional currencies against the US dollar reporting currency.