KUALA LUMPUR: Farm Fresh Bhd saw its net profit surge by 50.6% year-on-year (y-o-y)to RM17.68mil for the fourth quarter ended March 31 (4Q22) from RM11.74mil previously.

       Its revenue for the quarter stood at RM128.07mil, up 0.4% from RM127.5mil last year.

       The dairy producer said the increase was mainly attributable to the increase in Malaysia operation’s revenue by 6.2% or RM7mil driven by the recovery of economic activities and consumer confidence, following further easing of restrictions and reopening of borders.

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       Farm Fresh said the increase in Malaysia operation’s revenue had been partly offset by a reduction of Australian revenue by 46.6% or RM6.4mil due to the ceasing of raw milk sales by our Australian farm to third parties as well as the downsizing of IXL fruit jam business by our Australian subsidiary, Henry Jones Foods Pty Ltd’s (HJF), following the rationalisation exercise which was completed in the 3Q22.

       For the full financial year ended March 31, Farm Fresh recorded revenue and PAT of RM501.9mil and RM78.6mil respectively, an improvement of 2.3% and 139.3% respectively on a y-o-y basis.

       In a statement, it said the increase in revenue was mainly due to the higher recruitment of new customers in the Malaysian market, higher sales of ready-to-drink (RTD) milk products and launch of new products.

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       The group also reported a profit attributable to owners of the company of RM79.9mil, up 120.5% on a y-o-y basis.

       Its cash flow and balance sheet remained healthy with net cash from operating activities of RM49.1mil as well as a net cash position of RM17.2mil.

       Farm Fresh group managing director and group chief executive officer Loi Tuan Ee said the group is on track to launch our growing up milk based on a fortified fresh milk formula which will compete with both powder-based kid’s milk and RTD reconstituted milk-based products.

       “In terms of our expansion plan, we expect our Taiping farm and processing plant to be fully completed by this year which will focus on the northern states in Malaysia. This will then allow our Larkin plant to focus on fulfilling the demand from Singapore which has been a growing market over the past three years.

       “On the regional front, we have identified strategic growth markets to penetrate into which include Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

       “As such, I am confident we will be able to deliver long term value to our shareholders in terms of our sales and market share,” he said.