Dairy Farm International 1H Pretax Profit $222.8M On Sales Of $3.79B

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (DFI.LN) said Thursday that for the six months ended June 30, it made a pretax profit of $222.8 million on sales of $3.79 billion. MAIN FACTS: -Based on current market conditions, Dairy Farm is expected to continue to trade well in the second half of 2010 and to produce a satisfactory result for the full year. -Sales $3.79 billion (2009: $3.35 billion) -Operating profit $216.2 million (2009: $186.8 million) -Pretax profit $222.8 million (2009: $187.7 million) -Net profit $182.3 million (2009: $156.0 million) -Earnings per share 13.51 cents (2009: 11.57 cents) -Board has declared an interim dividend of 5.00 cents per share, up by 11%. -Howard Mowlem will retire as Group Finance Director at the end of August. -Mowlem will be succeeded by Alec Tong. -Acquisitions agreed in Malaysia and Singapore will add a further seven hypermarkets and 17 supermarkets in the second half of the year. -A new 150,000 square foot IKEA store was also opened in Hong Kong in June. -Profit growth in all regions By Iain Packham, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9269; iain.packham@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 29, 2010 05:17 ET (09:17 GMT)