Thai Beverage's Q2 profit slips 1% to 5.8 billion baht

THAI Beverage Public Co's second-quarter net profit slipped one per cent to 5.8 billion baht (S$224 million), or 0.23 baht per share, as lower contributions from its Singapore-listed units offset a 17 per cent growth in operating profit.

The brewer of Chang beer is declaring an interim dividend of 0.20 baht per share, up from its year-ago payout of 0.15 baht per share.

For the half-year ended June 30, net profit was up 16 per cent at 14.4 billion baht, or 0.57 baht per share.

Revenue rose 17 per cent in the second quarter to 45.5 billion baht, led by strong performance of beer.

Beer net profit during the quarter grew five-fold to 917 million baht, from a year-ago 158 million baht, as sales jumped 69.4 per cent to 14.8 billion baht.

Non-alcoholic sales rose 3.3 per cent to 4.6 billion baht, helping to narrow net loss for the segment to 217 million baht from a year-ago 608 million baht net loss.

The spirits business stayed mostly flat, with net profit increasing 0.9 per cent to 4.7 billion baht on the back of sales increasing by 0.7 per cent to 24.3 billion baht.

The food segment posted a 33 million baht profit in the quarter from a year-ago two million baht loss, as sales rose 4.8 per cent to 1.8 billion baht.