Shares of JB Foods, Food Empire soar on positive earnings

[SINGAPORE] Shares of food exporters JB Foods and Food Empire closed higher on Thursday (Nov 13) after they posted positive financial results.

JB Foods rose to S$0.715 at 1.48 pm before ending the day at S$0.70, up 25 per cent or S$0.14 from its Wednesday closing price. Some 2.6 million shares changed hands.

Food Empire, meanwhile, gained 9.4 per cent or S$0.22 to close at S$2.57 with 5.7 million shares transacted.

Food Empire on Wednesday evening posted a revenue of US$152.6 million for the third quarter ended Sep 30, up 28.3 per cent from the corresponding period a year earlier.

The group said this came on the back of strong growth across its segments in Europe, specifically Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

As for JB Foods, it reported a net profit of US$59.4 million for the six months ended Sep 30, reversing from a loss of US$51.9 million a year earlier.

SEE ALSO

JB Foods swings into the black with US$59.4 million H1 net profit, declares special dividend

Food Empire’s Q3 revenue rises 28.3% to US$152.6 million

It announced an interim dividend of S$0.002 a share and special dividend of S$0.028 a share. Both will be paid out in December.

JB Foods also said it achieved record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of US$89.9 million, in a turnaround from its year-ago loss of US$44.4 million.

The group attributed the improvement to operational enhancements, higher hedging gains and better margins from customers’ contracts delivered during the period.