FARM Fresh Berhad has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2024, and for the quarter under review, the dairy producer recorded its highest ever quarterly revenue and profit before tax.
Revenue increased to RM241.7 mil, an increase of 30.3% over the preceding year’s corresponding quarter.
Farm Fresh also registered significant improvements in its profitability with a 383.0% leap in profit before tax (PBT) to RM28.3 mil, 372.6% increase in profit after tax (PAT) to RM26.5 mil and 308.0% growth in profit after tax and minority interest (PATAMI) to RM26.0 mil.
As compared to the preceding quarter, the Group also managed to deliver commendable growth, registering a 12.4% increase in revenue from RM215.0 mil in Q4FY2024 which translated to a 14.1% increase in PBT, 10.4% increase in PAT and 8.6% leap in PATAMI.
The positive growth trajectory achieved for the quarter was largely attributed to the higher revenue recognised in its Malaysian operations underpinned by higher sales contribution from its new products, higher hotel, restaurant, and café (HORECA) sales along with the full-quarterly contribution from its ice cream division under Inside Scoop and Sin Wah.
Meanwhile, the Australian operations has also turned around by recording higher revenue and generating an operating profit for the quarter, driven by the higher external sales from Goulburn Valley Creamery Pty Ltd.
“As we continue to build upon the foundation of growth, we are pleased to announce a strong set of financials, highlighting a strong start to the new financial year,” said Farm Fresh group managing director and group CEO Loi Tuan Ee.
“The positive growth trajectory is a culmination from the strategic initiatives we have undertaken including category expansion of our products, recruitment of new customers, and cost optimisation.
“I strongly believe that we are well poised for sustained growth, leveraging our strong brand reputation to capture a larger market share.”
Likewise, Loi said the company is expecting to see continuous growth coming from their products such as Farm Fresh Grow in powder format which has garnered great reception from their customers and they expect to experience stronger sales momentum going forward.
“Paired with our newly launched chocolate malt product, we expect this to spur a new growth catalyst for the group, enabling us to penetrate new market segments to further grow our total addressable market,” he remarked.
“As for our consumer-packaged goods (CPG) ice cream, we have made exciting headway in this space following its recent launch in August 2024.
“Additionally, as part of our plans to expand our product offerings, we intend to include butter and cultured milk product to our product lineup which we plan to introduce in the next few months.”
Loi said shifting the focus towards the regional front, the group’s regional expansion has taken shape in the Philippines where the Farm Fresh factory is expected to start operating by the end of Aug 2024.
“This will allow us to introduce our chilled, ultra-high temperature (UHT) and growing-up milk powder products to the Greater Manila market,” he stated.
“As for Australia, we have posted a turnaround this quarter driven by the higher revenues from Goulburn Valley Creamery.
“We expect our Australia results to continue to improve following the reduction in the season farmgate prices by about 11% beginning July 2024. This favourable operating environment with lower input costs are expected to lead to positive results in the next few quarters.”
According to Loi, the company’s commitment to growth extends beyond product diversification and regional expansion.
“Farm Fresh remains dedicated to its ESG agenda and we have recently completed our biogas plant in Muadzam Shah,” he added.
“The aim would be to reduce our emission intensity, coupled with our efforts to reduce plastics usage via the expansion of our Milk on Tap initiatives.” – Aug 28, 2024
