United Food Holdings posts Q2 loss of 1.9 million yuan

MAINBOARD-LISTED United Food Holdings posted a second-quarter net loss attributable to shareholders of 1.9 million yuan (S$402,957), narrowing from 2 million yuan in the year-ago period.

Revenue was down 53.9 per cent to 293,000 yuan in the 3 months, compared to the 636,000 yuan in the previous year. The group said that revenue mainly came from its additives related segment, as its animal feed/traditional medicine segment was "adversely affected" by the African swine fever in Q2.

Cost of sales dropped 94.2 per cent to 19,000 yuan, while the quarter's gross profit fell 11 per cent to 274,000 yuan.

Net outflow of cash and cash equivalents in the three months reached 22.9 million yuan. At the end of the period, cash and cash equivalents summed to 14.2 million yuan.

Meanwhile, results for the half year showed a net loss of 3.9 million yuan, from 4.1 million yuan in the year-ago period.

No dividend has been declared for the half year as the company is in an accumulated loss position and the available cash is required for working capital, United Food Holdings said.

Gross profit was up 67.7 per cent to 592,000 yuan in the 6 months, compared to 353,000 yuan in the previous year. This was driven by revenue which grew 3.5 per cent to 805,000 and cost of sales which shrunk 49.9 per cent to 213,000 yuan.

However this was outweighed by selling and distribution costs (545,000 yuan), finance expenses (608,000), and administrative expenses (3.7 million yuan).

United Food Holdings has suspended trading since Sep 8.