Dairy Farm's underlying profit drops 62% to $142.7m

This is due to the impact of the reduction in the contribution from Yonghui.

The underlying profit of Dairy Farm International Holdings (DFI) dropped 62% to $142.7m (US$105m) in 2021.

Based on its financial statement, about 70% of the reduction in its profit was due to a $161.7m (US$119m) “adverse swing in the Group’s share of Yonghui’s profits.”

Excluding this, the profit would have been $161.7m (US195m).

DFI’s sales likewise dropped in 2021, declining 12% to $12.3b (US$9.02b).

Across its businesses, sales declined in grocery retail by -22% to $5.7b (US$4.2b), and home furnishing marginally dropped to $1.1b (US$816m).

Given the decline in its profit, the board proposed a final dividend of $0.088 (US$0.0650) per share or a total dividend of $0.13 (US$0.0950) per share for the year, a 42% reduction compared to 2020.

Payout of the final dividend of $0.0650 will be done on 11 May, subject to approval.

Looking ahead, the company said it remains confident in its “medium- to long-term growth prospects” despite the challenging year it had in 2021.

1 SGD = 0.74 USD