Liquor distributor posts loss amid weak consumptionHigh-end liquor distributor Silver Base Group Holdings (0886) posted a net loss of HK$177.1 million for the six months ended September 30, compared to net profit of HK$407.1 million a year back, dragged by
weak consumption and lower profit margin.
Loss per share was 14.52 HK cents, with no interim dividend declared.
Revenues during the April-September period
plunged 85.4 percent from a year back to HK$235.1 million.
Gross profit margin fell to 35.2 percent from 46.2 percent.
The Hong Kong-based liquor distributor sells Chinese liquors including Wuliangye series, National Cellar and Fen Wine, as well as some foreign wines.
Its cash on hand also fell to HK$69.8 million as at September 30 from HK$109.8 million six months earlier.
"The decline in cash ... was due to an increase in stock level for future sales," chairman Liang Guoxing said yesterday.
As of September 30, the firm's
inventory jumped 34.8 percent year on year to HK$880.6 million. Its share slumped as much as 29 percent last month amid rumors of contamination found in Jiugui Liquor, a leading liquor producer in the mainland.
Mainland media also reported that
two of the firm's four retail stores in Shenzhen shut down last month.
Tycoon Cheng Yu-tung cut his stake in Silver Base to 6.3 percent from 7.58 percent right before the company released a profit warning for the interim period.
But Liu Yang, chairwoman of Atlantis Investment Management, boosted her stake to about 13.6 percent from 12.7 percent. She expects the firm to record net profit of HK$1 billion by 2014.
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It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"