Stock investment helps sugar processors’ profits

Two of four listed sugar companies reported healthy profits thanks to rising sales volume and successful securities trading, while the remainder saw their profits plunge.

Bien Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Co. reported a second-quarter after-tax profit of VND11.7 billion, up VND6.7 billion from 2011, thanks to a 40 percent rise in sales volume. Particularly, the sugar producer obtained VND2.5 billion in profit thanks to successful securities trading.

Ninh Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Co. earned VND57.35 billion in net profit in the second quarter, overshooting 134 percent year-on-year. It witnessed a booming revenue growth for the fiscal second-quarter period thanks to profitable stock investment.

Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Co. posted after-tax profit of VND5.7 billion, down VND27.4 billion year-on-year. A strong fall in production capacity, selling price and sales figures have heavily dragged down profit, said Le Quang Tuong, general director of the firm.

The sugar refinery said its total cane crushing capacity stayed at 2.4 million tonnes in the second quarter, far lower than the 9.1 million tonnes recorded 12 months ago. Refined sugar price averaged out at VND15,321 a kilo, down 5.8 percent from the same period last year.

Given growing sales costs, Gia Lai Sugar Thermo-electricity Joint Stock Co. registered total net income of VND18 billion in the second quarter, a year-on-year decrease of VND7 billion.

There are six sugar production firms listed on the stock market namely Bourbon Tay Ninh Joint Stock Co., Bien Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Co., Ninh Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Co., Gia Lai Sugar Thermo-electricity Joint Stock Co., Lam Son Sugar Joint Stock Co. and Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Co.

Lam Son Sugar Joint Stock Co. and Bourbon Tay Ninh Joint Stock Co. have yet to announce their financial results for the second quarter.

Since early July, the country has completed the 2011-2012 sugarcane crop with total cane crushing capacity of nearly 1.3 million tonnes, up 160,000 tonnes from the previous crop.

As of mid-July, sugar surplus stood at 240,000 tonnes, 54,000 tonnes less than the preceding year. Refined sugar is sold at factories at VND16,200-16,500 a kilo.

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Category: Business