The falling value of the pound has weighed on earnings at Singapore Food Industries (SFI), the company has reported.
SFI, which owns UK business including Daniels Chilled Foods, booked a 9.9% fall in pre-tax profits to S$6.7m (US$4.5m) for the three months to the end of September.
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The weakening of sterling against the Singapore dollar also hit sales, with revenue dipping 2.4% to S$158m. Net profit was up 4.9% to S$5.8m
SFI’s operations in the UK and Ireland saw turnover fall 7.2%, although when the effect of the weaker pound was stripped out of the results, the company saw the businesses generate a 5.4% increase in revenue to S$91.7m.
Nevertheless, losses from SFI’s UK and Irish businesses widened from S$600,000 a year ago to $2.5m during the third quarter of 2008.
Domestically, SFI posted a 13.8% rise in pre-tax profits on the back of a 5.4% increase in sales, without giving specific figures.
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By GlobalDataFor the first nine months of the year, SFI reported a 7.8% rise in pre-tax profits to S$33.1m. Turnover inched up 1.5% to S$500.7m.
“Despite challenging business conditions, our pre-tax profit growth on a year-to-date basis demonstrates the stability of our combined UK and Singapore businesses,” said Roger Yeo, SFI’s CEO.
However, the results led SFI to give a cautious outlook for the full year.
“Although we expect FY 2008 earnings to be better than FY 2007 at the group level, continued deterioration in economic conditions and the outcome of Cresset consultations may adversely affect earnings for the full year,” SFI said.
The company is reportedly in talks with workers at Cresset, its loss-making Irish unit, over the future of the business.
Officials at SFI could not be reached for immediate comment.
