Penrice Soda Holdings Ltd. says it will report an underlying after-tax loss of AUD 1.2 million for the first half, due to a forced plant shutdown, sending the shares to a record low.
The company also…
Penrice Soda Holdings Ltd. says it will report an underlying after-tax loss of AUD 1.2 million for the first half, due to a forced plant shutdown, sending the shares to a record low. The company also says it is unlikely to achieve its full year profit guidance because demand for its soda ash and bicarbonate soda products have been hit by flooding in eastern Australia. The company was forced to shut down its chemical plant in late October 2010, following the failure of its steam supplier“s electricity and heating plant, which, along with a previous unplanned closure, had cost the company approximately AUD 5 million before tax. Penrice“s half-year report, to be released on 24 February, will include the receipt of an AUD 0.5 million progress payment on the company“s insurance claims following these losses. Despite this, figures from Penrice“s unaudited first half report show an improvement on net operating cash flow, which increased from AUD 2.9 million to AUD 4.5 million. The statement said it: reflected a substantial reduction in working capital and a turnaround in the Quarry and Mineral business cash flow to AUD 0.1 million from a cash outflow of AUD 1.7 million. However, Penrice said it had been impacted badly by the recent floods in eastern Australia, with reduced bicarbonate sales to stockfeed, reduced ash sales to glass and a forecast spike in the prices of coke raw material. As a result, sales until now in the second half were behind plan and Penrice said it was unlikely to meet underlying profit guidance of AUD 5.6 million. The company said the full extent of the floods impact was still uncertain, but a further update would be released regarding Penrice“s half-year results.