Petra Foods Ltd announced a solid set of results

Singapore-based Petra Foods Limited, one of the world’s major manufacturers and suppliers of cocoa ingredients and branded consumer confectionary products, announced a solid set of results for the first half of the fianncial year 2006 as the Group’s two core divisions benefited from the healthy industry fundamentals and the strong demand for its customised cocoa ingredients products and its chocolate confectionery products.
EBITDA for the six month period to 30 June 2006 grew by US$6.4m to US$27m, a growth of 31.1%, driven by increasing volumes of sales in both divisions. Cocoa Ingredients achieved a sales volume growth of 19.6%; and Branded Consumer achieved revenue growth of 39%. As a result, Petra Food’s net profit for 1H 2006 surged 39.1% to US$14.9m compared to US$10.7m in 2005.
The relatively modest revenue increase of 8.8% (US$235.6m)is largely a reflection of lower cocoa bean prices which are a major component of sales for the Cocoa Ingredients division, but as they are generally passed through to end customer, have limited impact on overall profitability.