Dutch Lady Q1 earnings miss expectations, says Kenanga

KUALA LUMPUR: Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd’s 1QFY19 core net profit of RM34.3mil was 8% lower year-on-year (y-o-y), missing expectations, said Kenanga research.

“1Q19 core net profit of RM34.3m is below our, and consensus, expectations, making up 22% of both full-year estimates.

“We had anticipated a c.30% contribution to FY19E earnings due to seasonal weakness during the mid-year,” it said.

The research house said the poor topline delivery and slower-than-expected margin recovery contributed to the earnings miss.

The interim dividend of 50 sen per share came within expectations, said Kenanga, which anticipates a 220 sen payout for FY19E.

FOr the quarter, sales slipped 0.4% to RM265mil as a result of downward average selling price adjustments to stimulate volume growth.

Gross profit margin improved 0.1ppt to 40.8% as prices for milk poweder saw better averages.

“Post-results, we leave our FY19E/FY20E numbers unchanged for now, as we await updates from an upcoming meeting with management.

“However, there could be possible downside bias adjustments to our top-line assumptions. Note that if we cut earnings by 5% to reflect the weakness in sales growth, our call has downside
risks,” said Kenanga.

It maintained its outperform rating and target price of RM68.30.

Source : TheStar