Better contributions from most of its key business units helped beverage group Fraser & Neave (F&N) chalk up a 16.3% rise in interim earnings to US$ 100.9 million.
This came on the back of a 23.2% ri…
Better contributions from most of its key business units helped beverage group Fraser & Neave (F&N) chalk up a 16.3% rise in interim earnings to US$ 100.9 million. This came on the back of a 23.2% rise in turnover to US$ 1.47 billion for the six months to 31 March 2001, from US$ 1.19 billion the year before. The bottomline was also boosted by an exceptional item of US$ 25.1 million from the sale of a wine business held through subsidiary Asia Pacific Breweries (APB). The results boosted F&N“s earnings per share (EPS) to 33.8 cents, from 29.1 cents. Net tangible asset (NTA) per share rose to US$ 10.45, from US$ 9.81. The bulk of the contribution came from subsidiary APB, which chalked up an 80.5% leap in net earnings to US$ 63.3 million. The earnings rise was achieved despite a 21.9% fall in turnover to US$ 528 million. The results boosted APB“s EPS to 25 cents, from 13.9 cents. But its NTA remained unchanged at US$ 2.65. Looking ahead, F&N and APB are upbeat on their respective second half prospects, with both expecting full-year results to be better than that for last year. Both companies declared interim dividends of 9 cents per share net of tax.