Agritrade Resources Limited
Agritrade Resources Announces Annual Results for the Year Ended 31 March 2015 – Revenue Exceeds 1 Billion with 50% Growth in Profit after Tax
Agritrade Resources Announces Annual Results Financial Highlight
(28 June 2015) Agritrade Resources Limited (“Agritrade Resources” or the “Company”, and its subsidiaries, the “Group”, HKSE Stock Code: 1131) is pleased to announce the preliminary annual results for the year ended 31 March 2015 (the “Year” or “FY2015”). For the year ended 31 March 2015, the Group recorded a turnover of approximately HK$1,234 million, representing a Y-o-Y growth of approximately 28.4% as compared to HK$961 million in prior year. Gross profit also increased from HK$306 million to HK$370 million. The gross profit margin of the Group was maintained at similar level as last year at 30% (2014: 31.8%). The increase in both turnover and gross profit was mainly contributed by the Group’s mining operation, which is in turn attributable to the increase in mining activities and production and more favourable prices for sales of our SEM coal for the year. The consolidated profit attributable to owners of the Company increased by 27.5% to HK$147 million as compared to the corresponding period in 2014. The Board recommended a payment of final dividend of HK1.0 cent per share. Together with the interim dividend of HK1.0 cent per share paid on 22 December 2014, it will amount to a total dividend of HK2.0 cents per share for the year. Mining Business During the year under review, due to a shortage of local Indonesian coal and the increase in production capacity, the Group’s mining segment has contributed HK$1,211 million in turnover and HK$235 million in profit to the Group for FY2015, representing a significant increase of 29.5% and 33.5% respectively as compared to the corresponding period in 2014. The Group maintains a continuous increase in production capacity for the past five consecutive years. The annual production capacity of the mining operation has reached 4.1 million tonnes for FY2015, representing a Y-o-Y increase of 5.8%. In March 2015, the Company completed the construction of its own coal upgrading facility using GEO-COALTM technology, which targets to process and upgrade our SEM coals into higher quality coals with increase calorific value and lower moisture levels, where the Group expects the profit margins for SEM coal will be increased. In addition, the Group has built up its own fleet in Indonesia inland waterway to exercise more effective cost control over its coal production and logistics processes with a view to significantly enhancing the operation efficiency of its mining operation. Shipping Business In February 2015, the Group completed the acquisition of a very large crude carriers grade oil tanker (“VLCC”) at an investment cost of US$22 million. Subsequent to the acquisition, the Group entered into a floating storage unit service agreement with Glencore Singapore Pte Ltd. (“Glencore”), one of the world’s greatest commodity trading houses, for leasing out the whole capacity of the VLCC for Glencore’s storage of crude oil for six months at approximately US$6.4 million. During the year, the floating storage service agreement contributed HK$3.2 million of income to the Group. Reviewing the business performance during the year and Looking ahead for the next financial year, Mr. Ng Xinwei, the Executive Director and CEO of Agritrade Resources, said, “Despite the decline in global coal demand, we believe domestic coal consumption in Indonesia will keep increasing on the back of Indonesia government’s program to develop power plants. We foresees rapid growth in external coal demand along with steady growth in domestic coal demand in Indonesia. Indonesia’s strategic geographical location positions it towards the giant emerging markets like China and India. Coal demand from these two countries is skyrocketing. We remain optimistic about the development of our mining business on the back of significant increase in coal demand from the above external markets and Indonesia.” “Looking ahead for our shipping business, energy shipments and the demand of oil storage were expected to surge in the region over the next few years due to the boom of Southeast Asia region and increase in regional energy usage. We expect further expansion of the shipping segment through buying of new vessels and chartering of vessels in the Southeast Asia region to meet the fast growing market need.” “We have made great progress in market expansion in FY2015. In view of the strong market potential in China, the Company intends to diversify and further expand its business into this profitable and growing market by setting up a new China Division in April 2015. Looking forward, we strongly believe in the steady growth in our business through capacity enhancement, market expansion, business diversification and mergers and acquisitions with the view to bringing generous rewards for our shareholders.” -END- About Agritrade Resources Limited (HKSE Stock Code: 1131) Company website: www.agritraderesources.com Issued by Financial PR (HK) Limited For further information, please contact:
End of Press Release +++++ Document: http://n.equitystory.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=IHSDOGMXOE Document title: Agritrade Resources Announces Annual Results for the Year Ended 31 March 2015 – Revenue Exceeds 1 Billion with 50% Growth in Profit after Tax Key word(s): Quarter Results 29/06/2015 UTC+8 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by EQS TodayIR – a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com |
372855 29/06/2015 UTC+8 |