Rice Company Profit Low Compared To Last Year
The expectation for 2017 is that there will be some upsurge in producing countries, mainly those recovering from 201516 El-Nino impacted positions
Rice Company of Fiji Limited net profit was marginally lower at $2.68 million against $2.98 million last year. However, sales increased from $25.18 million in 2014-15 to $26.15 million in 2015-16. In the company’s annual report released on Friday, chairman, Hari Punja said product mix and competitive market conditions reduced the profit marginally this year.
“Though its physical facilities did not bear the brunt of severe tropical cyclone Winston as did many unfortunate Fijians, its sales nevertheless suffered in the immediate months that followed,” he said.
“In such situation, I believe even the modest 3.8 per cent growth in sales is testimony to the continuing goodwill your Company’s products enjoy in the marketplace. “Dividend during the year was maintained at last year’s level of 25 cents per share, requiring an outflow of $1.50 million which corresponds to last year’s amount.” Mr Punja said as of last year the Company is able to store its rice stock in the container yard owned by FMF Investments Ltd, a Group Company.
“In the past it was forced to store a lot of grain with external storage facility providers.
“This change in storage facility is a welcome development because although the rate your Company pays is no different from the market rate.” He added the real benefit they get is the significantly better physical control of their stock, easy access when the rice is required for processing and also the certainty of superior storage conditions.
Outlook:
Mr Punja highlighted while El Nino weather conditions did impact some of the world’s rice producing countries, its overall impact on rice production was not as severe as some scientists had predicted it to be.
“The expectation for 2017 is that there will be some upsurge in producing countries, mainly those recovering from 2015-16 El-Nino impacted positions,” he added. “However, at a global level supplydemand positions are not likely to change substantially and markets are therefore expected to be reasonably stable.”