LONDON (Alliance News) - Chinese orange farmer Asian Citrus Holdings PLC on Thursday said its revenue will sink significantly and its loss widen in the first half of its financial year following a difficult period for the company.
Asian Citrus was hit in late 2014 by two typhoons, which damaged its orange plantations. It then took a further blow in 2015 when it revealed that huanglongbing disease, or citrus greening disease, had struck its Xinfeng plantation, devastating the crop and causing the company to announce plans to close down the plantation at the end of the year.
Due to those challenges, the company said its total production yield for winter oranges decreased to 15,565 tonnes in the half to the end of December, from 110,993 tonnes a year earlier, down around 86%.
In addition, while its average selling price was up 3.0% at its Hepu plantation, which was not affected by the disease, the average selling price for its Xinfeng oranges fell 24%. The need to supply additional pesticides to Xinfeng also hit margins for the group and damaged profit for the half.
The group will publish its half-year results on February 26.
Asian Citrus shares were down 12% to 3.65 pence, one of the worst performers in the AIM All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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