Fyffes announces rise in profits, dividend

Fruit importer Fyffes's pre-tax profits, before exceptional items, for the first half of this year have risen by just under 6 per cent on the same period last year.

The company reported an improvement in interim pretax profit before goodwill amortisation, exceptional items and 2001 e-commerce to €38.9 million from €36.8 million a year earlier, and said it will raise the interim dividend by 10 per cent.

Sales in the first half to the end of June were lower at €930 million from €1.048 billion last year, largely due to a number of disposals during the second half of last year and the first half of this year, notably JA Kahl GmbH & Co in November 2001 and Sofiprim in April 2002.

Earnings per share rose 8.6 per cent in the period to 7.84 cent, while operating profit in the seasonally stronger first half increased marginally to €36.5 million compared to €36 million last year, Fyffes said.

The group's operating margin, excluding e-commerce losses of €1.7 million in the first half of 2001, increased to 3.93 per cent from 3.59 per cent a year earlier.

It proposes to raise the interim dividend to 1.2646 cent from 1.1496.