Engro Foods announces profit of Rs889m for 2014

KARACHI: The board of directors of Engro Foods Limited has earned a profit-after-tax of Rs889 million for the year ended December 31, 2014 as compared to Rs211 million in 2013, a company statement said on Tuesday.
Engro Foods’ revenue for 2014 grew to Rs43 billion as compared to Rs37.9 billion in 2013, exhibiting a growth of 14 percent. Effective investment on brands and efficient product mix management remained key elements in the achievements of growth in the topline of 2014, it said.
The key highlight of 2014 was Olper’s significant volume growth, which was led by continuous investment on brand and introduction of new innovative packaging in 2013, which yielded results in the current year.
‘Tarang’ was under volumetric pressure during the first half of 2014 due to intense competitive environment. With the support of price promotions and consumer centric campaigns, Tarang reclaimed its market share and has surpassed historical volumes in the last quarter of 2014, the statement said.
The dairy and beverages segment reported revenue of Rs40 billion, registering a growth of 14 percent over the last year. The segment contributed Rs1.711 billion to the company’s profitability this year, registering a growth of nine percent.
During 2014, the ice-cream business witnessed volume recovery and growth. Innovations played a major role in achieving growth in 2014 with star performers being Funties and Tutti Frutti. On the sales front, Omore continued to invest in the market by deploying new freezers and tapping into new geographical territories and focused on retailer and distributor ROIs to boost sales volume.
The ice-cream and frozen business segment reported revenue of Rs2.9 billion, recording a growth of 11 percent over the last year. The segment managed to reduce its loss from Rs320 million in 2013 to Rs293 million in 2014, it said.
The company’s Nara Dairy Farm continued to remain a rich and nutritious source of quality milk for the dairy segment. The farm produces 33,000 litres per day in 2014 as compared to 25,000 litres per day in 2013. Due to improved production yield the Nara farm has significantly reduced its operational losses to Rs32 million in 2014 as opposed to a loss of Rs137 million in 2013.
The company has carried out comprehensive analysis of its pilot project commenced in 2013 under the brand name of “Mabrook” and concluded that, while the results and consumer acceptance rate of the concept were encouraging, mass acceptance will take some time.
Accordingly, the company has decided to conclude the pilot and has recorded all the expenses in these financial statements in relation to the closure of pilot.
During the year, the board carried out strategic review of its North American operations and decided to exit it, so the focus can be placed in growing local operations where growth opportunities are enormous.
As a result, Engro Foods Netherlands entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) with a Canadian registered company for sale of its North American businesses, which includes Engro Foods Canada Limited (EFCL).
The sale transaction was completed on October 31, 2014. Consequently, due to the sale of the Canadian operations, the company has recorded an impairment charge of Rs596 million during the year, the statement said.
The company reviewed its strategy during the year and as a result of focused approach, its performance in the fourth quarter of 2014 improved significantly with 23 percent volumetric growth in dairy and beverages segment over the third quarter of 2014, achieving highest-ever volumetric sale of Tarang and Olper’s.
Based on the fourth quarter performance, the management is confident that volume and sales growth journey will continue in 2015.