MHP reported a net loss of US$48 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, a sharp turnaround from the net profit of US$41 million for the same period of fiscal year 2017.
While the Ukrainian company did achieve a net profit for the first nine months of FY 2018, it was still a 44 percent decline from the net profit of US$251 million for the first nine months of FY 2017.
Factoring in the decline in profits was US$87 million of non-cash foreign exchange translation loss in the third quarter, compared to a loss of US$17 million for the same quarter of 2017. Also playing a role in reduced profits for the first nine months was a US$41 million reduction in government grants income and one-off transaction costs of US$33 million related to a new Eurobond.
The third quarter ended on September 30.
Poultry segment performance
The company reported a solid performance for its poultry segment, as volume increased 10 percent year-over-year for the third quarter, to 150,650 metric tons. The average chicken meat price for the quarter increased 7 percent for the quarter.
Chicken meat exports increased 52 percent when compared to the third quarter of FY 2017, with exports reaching 80,361 metric tons.
The MHP poultry segment continues to follow a strategy of both product mix optimization and geographic diversification, expanding its sales in Africa, Asia, the European Union and the Middle East.
Grain growing operations
MHP, for the quarter increased its production of corn, wheat, sunflowers, rapeseed and soybeans for the quarter. It particularly improved its production of corn, having produced more than 1.3 million metric tons for the third quarter of FY 2018, compared to about 893,149 metric tons for the same period of 2017.
At the time of the reporting, all of MHP’s soybeans had been harvested, while about 90 percent of its corn had been harvested.
For the nine-month period, the MHP grain division’s revenues were up 1 percent on a year-over-year basis.
