SINGAPORE (Yosefardi) – Petra Foods Limited posted 16.1% sales decline in Indonesia for the first half of 2015 (1H 2015) and 15.7% sales decline for the second quarter (2Q 2015), affected by weak consumer sentiment in Indonesia.
Petra Foods remains a leader in Indonesia with more than 50% share of the chocolate confectionery market. If compared in local currency terms over the same periods, the decline in sales would have been 4.8% and 8.3% respectively.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, there was an improvement in sales in 2Q 2015 over 1Q 2015 due to the run-up to the Muslim Lebaran festivities.
The Group expects its performance for the year ending 31 December 2015 to be affected by several factors, including the challenging operating environment in Indonesia, persistent volatility in regional currencies and higher raw material costs.
Petra Foods achieved a PATMI of US$15.2 million on the back of US$221.3 million in sales for 1H 2015. Year-onyear (Y-o-Y), this represents a decline of 13.1% in revenue and a 41.4% decline in PATMI as compared to the six months ended 30 June 2014 (1H 2014).
In local currency terms for the purpose of comparing the underlying performance of the Group, 1H 2015 revenue and PATMI were lower compared to 1H 2014 by 6.0% and 34.4% respectively.
The Group’s lower Y-o-Y performance was adversely affected by both the Indonesian/US dollar exchange rate and weak consumer sentiment in Indonesia.
Over the past year, there has been a significant decline in the Indonesian Rupiah, which affects not only the gross profit margin as a result of higher dollar denominated raw material costs but also the contribution of the Indonesian business when translated into US dollars.