Halcyon Agri posts US$40.4m net loss for H1

NATURAL rubber supplier Halcyon Agri Corp posted a net loss of US$40.4 million for the half-year ended June 30, 2020, widening from a loss of US$3.4 million a year ago.

Revenue fell 15.5 per cent to US$770.2 million mainly due to a 13.4 per cent decrease in sales volumes as a result of weaker demand during the pandemic.

The widespread lockdowns have resulted in tyre factories and most customers in the rubber industry in China reducing their orders to match their reduced operations. Customers have also delayed their shipments due to overstocking at various destinations.

Gross profit slumped 48.6 per cent to S$33.7 million. Gross profit per tonne decreased to US$64 from US$107 due to margin compression as the SICOM natural rubber benchmark trended lower.

Lower sales volume led to under-utilisation of factory capacity, and the group was not able to fully cover the factories' fixed cost.

Other income fell 85.1 per cent to US$1.2 million. This was because a year ago, a one-off reversal of a provision for doubtful receivables of US$7.1 million was recorded as other income.

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Administrative expenses rose 12.4 per cent to US$46.9 million due to business rationalisation expenses of US$4.5 million and higher depreciation charge of the Cameroon assets.

Loss per share was 2.53 US cents, compared with 0.21 US cent a year ago.

The counter closed at 21.5 Singapore cents on Friday, down one Singapore cent or 4.44 per cent.