Unity Foods cooks up Rs830m profit despite sales slump

February 25, 2025 (MLN): Unity Foods Limited has posted a net profit of Rs830 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, marking a turnaround from a loss of Rs471m in the same period last year.

The company's earnings per share (EPS) stood at Rs0.7, compared to a loss per share of Rs0.39 in the prior year.

The surge in profits is attributed to the other income, which jumped by 249.3% to Rs1.64 billion. This improvement contributed to a 33.5% increase in operating profit, which stood at Rs4.81bn compared to Rs3.61bn last year.

It is important to note that Unity Foods' net turnover declined by 24.7% year-on-year, falling to Rs34.90bn from Rs46.33bn, largely due to a 24.8% drop in gross sales and a 26.6% decrease in sales tax and discounts.

The cost of sales also fell by 27.5% to Rs30.01bn, slightly improving the gross profit, which remained stable at Rs4.89bn, down by just 0.4% from last year.

The company significantly cut selling and distribution expenses by 33.4% to Rs918m, while administrative expenses saw a modest decline of 3.7% to Rs666m.

Notably, other expenses, which were recorded at Rs295m in December 2023, turned into an expense of Rs137m in the latest period.

On the downside, finance costs rose 8.9% to Rs3.93bn, impacting the company's pre-tax earnings.

However, profit before taxation still managed to swing to a gain of Rs504m, compared to a loss of Rs422m last year.

A breakdown of net profit reveals that Rs504m came from continuing operations, while Rs326m was attributed to discontinued operations.

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