Wimm-Bill-Dann sees Q2 earnings slump 31.5%, just below forecast
MOSCOW. Sept 2 (Interfax) - OJSC Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods saw its net profit decrease by 31.5% to $35.9 million in the first half of 2010 in comparison with $52.3 million posted in the same period of 2009, the company said in a statement.
This result was somewhat below a consensus forecast of banking and investment analysts conducted by Interfax, which came to $38.3 million.
The group's sales revenue went up by 15.3% to $639.8 million (consensus $653 million). Revenue in rubles increased by 6.6%.
EBITDA went up by $86.2 million from 85.2 million a year previous (consensus forecast - $89.8 million). In addition, WBD's EBITDA margin decreased from 15.4% to 13.5%.
The company's sales revenue increased 17.1% year-on-year to $1.3 billion for the first half, below the consensus forecast of $1.27 billion.
Gross profit went up by 3.4% to 375.8 million while gross margin decreased from 33.9% to 29.9%. WBD's gross profit for the second quarter decreased by 4.3% to 203.7 million while the margin fell from 35.2% to 31.8%.
"Our performance continues to be strong, with significant improvements in market share across our dairy, beverages and baby food segments as demand restores back to levels we have not seen before the global economic crisis," the statement said quoting company CEO Tony Maher.
Rising costs for raw milk had a negative effect on the company's gross profit. "However, we continue to face challenges in raw milk procurement, which adversely impacted our gross margins in the dairy segment in the second quarter. Despite some temporary input difficulties, we are favorably positioned across our segments to achieve our objective of expanding profitability through efficient gains and a greater share in high value categories," Maher was quoted as saying.
WBD's commercial expenditures went up by 8.3% to 199.9 million in the first half while overall and administrative expenditures edged down by 0.4% to $63.5 million.
EBITDA in the first half went by 0.9% to 159.7 million while the EBITDA margin went from 14.8% to 12.7%. Analysts forecast WBD's EBITDA at $163.4 million.
WBD's operational profit went down by 5.4% to $105.8 million in January-June.
The company's net profit in the first half went up by 7% to $69.5 million, which was below the consensus forecast ($72.1 million).
WBD's capex went up by 42.5% to $65.4 million in the first half.
The company's short-term liabilities came to $710.5 million at the end of June compared to $456.1 million at the start of the year while long-term liabilities dropped from $329.4 million to $79.6 million.
Funds in WBD's accounts decreased in the first half from $248.5 million to $156.2 million.
Sales revenue for the company's dairy segment went up by 15.4% to $861.6 million largely driven by solid volume growth and positive exchange rate effect. The average dollar-selling price went up by 10.8% to $1.19 per kilogram, which was largely the result of currency rate changes.
The raw milk-purchasing price shot up by 34.3%. The gross margin dropped from 30.3% to 23%. However, the gross margin increased to 25.1% from 21.1% in the first quarter.
Sales revenue for the sales revenue for the Beverages segment went up 14.2% to $239.7 million in the first half. The average dollar selling price on product went up by 1.5% to $0.76 per liter while the gross margin increase from 38.8% to 43.4% owing to declining input costs and a change in mix.
Sales revenue for the Baby Food segment increased by 33.9% to 153.8 million in the first half owing to high sales growth. The average dollar-selling price went up by 11.3% to $1.92 while the gross margin decreased from 48.6% to 47.6%.
Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods is one of Russia's biggest juice and dairy producers.