For the 4th quarter of 2022, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd recorded revenue of RM1.14 billion representing a 26.9% growth from the same quarter last year. The improvement was driven by the positive momentum from the recovery of economic activities, Out of-Home (OOH) consumption, and trade restocking, reflecting business returning to pre-pandemic
levels.
Group profit before tax increased to RM119.5 million from RM61.9 million in Q4 2021. Strong demand and margin recovery from price adjustments have largely offset the adverse commodity price impact. Excluding one-off non-operating items, Group profit before tax for the quarter grew from RM72.7 million to RM118 million. Food & Beverages Malaysia increased its revenue for the quarter by 31.1% to RM600.6 million on the back of double-digit volume growth in beverages and improved sales of dairy products from successful market activations and recovery of OOH consumption in the domestic market despite higher selling prices
Thailand operations new product innovations, effective loyalty programmes, and expansion of distribution coverage led to double-digit growth in sales for both evaporated and sweetened condensed milk categories. Food & Beverages Thailand grew its revenue for the quarter by 22.8% (25.7% in Thai Baht) to RM535.8 million, boosted by the progressive recovery in tourism industry and OOH consumption. Operating profit increased by 52.8% (51.2% in Thai Baht) to RM75.0 million compared to Q4 2021, supported by lower advertising and promotion expenses and price adjustments, and moderated by higher commodity costs.
For the full year ended 30 September 2022, Group revenue grew by 8.2% to RM4.47 billion, underpinned by strong domestic demand in Malaysia and Thailand, price adjustment strategy, and the first full-year contribution from the Group’s Food business. Improved revenue and cost management measures, including price and trade discount adjustments, had significantly mitigated the impact of higher commodity and freight costs, flood recovery expenses, and foreign exchange translation loss from a weaker Thai Baht. The Group recorded RM454.1 million in profit before tax, at 5.3% below FY2021, and RM382.3 million in profit after tax, at 3.3% below FY2021
F&NHB Chief Executive Officer, Lim Yew Hoe said, “Admittedly, the first half of the year was tough due to rising commodity prices and the impact of the floods on our Shah Alam operations. While our overall bottom line was impacted, it has been greatly mitigated by the effective strategies we had put in place to manage market risk and exposure. Most importantly, our strategies enabled the Group to re-establish ourselves on a stronger footing during the second half.”
“The Group is on track with its long-term strategies to raise cost efficiency and build up its fourth business pillar, Halal Packaged Food. The insight here is that the Group has much more potential to move forward and continue growing in the future,” Lim added.
