Scales Corp, the listed fruit and vegetables logistics company, said first-half profit fell 22 percent from a year earlier, reflecting lower apple prices and the one-off costs of its NZX listing.
Profit was $20.6 million in the six months ended June 30, down from $26.4 million in the same period a year earlier, the Christchurch-based company said in a statement. Sales rose 3.4 percent to $150.2 million.
Scales debuted on the NZX in July at $1.60 per share. Of the $148 million worth of shares sold, $30 million was new capital to be used to reduce debt, while private equity firm Direct Capital sold into the offer, reducing their stake to 20 percent from 84.2 percent. Shares of Scales last traded at $1.53, and have fallen 4.4 percent below its offer price.
The company is New Zealand's largest apple exporter and also owns businesses across the primary sector, including sea and air freight services, cold store operations, and food ingredients, pet foods and juice concentrate businesses. Last year the company lifted annual profit 50 percent to $20.4 million, on the back of rising Asian demand for apples.
"We are continuing to develop our presence in Asia and other near markets, aided by the fact we expect premium variety apple plantings to yield increased volumes for 2015," said managing director Andy Borland. "Together with a group of other primary sector New Zealand exporters, we are establishing ServeCo, a collaborative venture based in Shanghai which is designed to assist the partners' trade into China."
The company is boosting its cold store network's capacity by 16 percent, building an 8,700 square metre Polarcold plant at the Ports of Auckland inter-modal freight hub at Wiri, South Auckland. Fonterra Cooperative Group had already signed on to use half of the space, Borland said, which is expected to be complete in the third quarter of next year.
