Petra Foods regroups for premium push in South East Asia
The firm finalized a $950m sale of its cocoa processing operations to Barry Callebaut on 30 June and will now focus on its consumer goods brands such as SilverQueen, Ceres and Delfi.
It sees big potential in its regional markets: Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
Premium goods for growing middle class
“Following the divestment of the Cocoa Ingredients business, Petra Foods’ financial position will no longer be impacted by continuing negative pressures affecting the global cocoa ingredients industry,” said Petra in a statement.
“Moving forward with its Branded Consumer business, Petra Foods will further stimulate demand by growing its portfolio of products especially in the Premium segment through the launch of new products and expansion into new product categories.”
Petra Foods CEO John Chuang, added: “The region’s [S East Asia's] vibrant economies and fast growing middle income classes are trends that work in our favor and we will continue to capitalize on them as we continue our strategic focus to drive growth and profitability in our key consumer markets.”
Results roundup
Sales for the firm’s branded consumer division was up 3% to $125.6m in Q2 as net profit for the division grew 7.4%.
However, the firm’s now divested cocoa ingredients business registered a $10m loss in Q2, taking overall group net profit down 70.1% to $4.8m.
Management shakeup
Petra announced a number of changes to its senior management.
It has appointed Lim Seok Bee as its new chief operating officer (COO). Bee previously held the same position for the divested cocoa ingredients business.
She will be supported by former ADM employee David Soh in his role as director, operations, projects and engineering.
The company also has a new CFO after former head of finance Chin Koon Yew announced his retirement. The position will be filled by Ben Ryan, who was formerly group director of business development and special projects.
