by millionairemind » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:09 am
Published July 20, 2010
Qian Hu Q2 net profit plunges 42.9%
By RACHEL SIM
ORNAMENTAL fish breeder Qian Hu Corporation has posted a 42.9 per cent drop in second-quarter net profit to $950,000 from a year back - hit by air-traffic disruption in Europe, the World Cup in South Africa, unrest in Thailand and bad weather in Malaysia.
Mr Yap: The air-traffic disruption in Europe, political turmoil in Bangkok and the World Cup are one-off events that will not dampen the group's profitability for the full year of 2010
Group revenue for the three months ended June 30 fell 4.1 per cent to $22.7 million.
Q2 earnings per share sank to 0.21 cent from 0.39 cent a year earlier.
For the quarter, sales of ornamental fish slid 5.6 per cent year on year to $11.3 million, with the World Cup from June 11 dampening demand and unstable weather in Malaysia affecting Dragon fish fry production.
Accessories revenue fell 6.3 per cent to $8.6 million from the year before, as political unrest halted Qian Hu's wholesale and retail activity in Bangkok and exports from its Guangzhou factory in China slowed during the World Cup.
But efforts to expand the group's customer base and product offerings paid off, with sales from plastics activities growing 10.4 per cent to $2.8 million.
'Thankfully, the triple whammy impact of air-traffic disruption in Europe, political turmoil in Bangkok and the World Cup are over,' said executive director Kenny Yap.
'We see these as one-off, unforeseen incidences that will not dampen the group's profitability for the full year of 2010.
'Though I am not pleased to announce this quarter's results, we expect the second half of the year to be better than the first half.'
For the first six months, revenue dipped 1.9 per cent to $45.97 million while net profit dropped 22.9 per cent to $2.36 million.
Cash and cash equivalents grew 12.6 per cent, from $7.8 million at June 30, 2009, to about $8.8 million at June 30, 2010. And the group's debt-to-equity ratio dropped to 0.48 from 0.50 six months earlier.
No interim dividend has been recommended.
Qian Hu's share price closed half a cent higher at 13.5 cents yesterday
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