Fraser & Neave's profits rose 4.3% to $58.3m in Q1 FY 2020

Higher sales from the company’s beverage and dairy products boosted quarterly earnings.

Fraser & Neave’s (F&N) profits posted a 4% upward growth YoY in Q1 FY 2020 to $58.3m from $55.9m. Revenues similarly posted an expansion of 8.8% to $505.2m in the quarter, from $464.4m in 1Q2019.

Higher sales in the beverages and dairy product lines lifted the revenues for the quarter. Beverage revenues for Q1 grew 9.9% to $125m. This was mainly due to the launch of commercial operations of Emerald Brewery in Myanmar. Earlier sell-in for the Lunar New Year festivities also expanded the revenues of Soft Drinks in the Malaysia and Singapore unit.

Dairy products’ revenues. on the other hand, grew 9.9% for the quarter at $308m from $280m in 1Q19. The growth was mainly attributed to Dairies Thailand as a result of successful execution of branding campaigns as well as the launch of new Teapot variants. Revenues in Dairies Malaysia also saw a 4.1% jump on the back of a successful trade execution amidst tight competition in canned milk categories.

Meanwhile, the company’s printing and publishing group similarly demonstrated a revenue leap of 2.7% to $72.6m against the corresponding period last year. This was due to contributions from Print Lab and Hallmark Distribution, which helped offset shortfall in revenue from Education Publishing and Book Distribution.

The department incurred losses before interest and taxation of $300k due to the slower take up on education textbooks in the US. This was partially offset by improved profitability from the Printing Group.