Asian Citrus Holdings Ltd Winter Orange Crop (5547J)

TIDMACHL

RNS Number : 5547J

Asian Citrus Holdings Ltd

18 December 2015

 
 For immediate release   18 December 2015 
 

Asian Citrus Holdings Limited

("Asian Citrus" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries (the "Group"))

Winter Orange Crop

Asian Citrus provides the following update for the forthcoming winter orange crop from the Group's Hepu Plantation and Xinfeng Plantation.

Hepu Plantation

The winter orange crop from Hepu Plantation which has been impacted by poor weather will, based on the recently signed supply agreements, supply a total of approximately 4,700 tonnes winter oranges in the second half of 2015, compared to the actual production output of 7,146 tonnes in the same period last year

Based on current information, the anticipated average selling price of the winter orange crop from Hepu Plantation will however show an increase of approximately 3% compared to the prior year.

Xinfeng Plantation

As previously announced in April and May 2015, Xinfeng Plantation suffered very significant damage from the impact of Huanglongbing disease, also known as citrus greening disease. As announced at the time the Company's annual results for the financial year ended 30 June 2015 on 30 September 2015, 317,839 orange trees had to be removed due to the infection of Huanglongbing disease. Accordingly the estimated production output for the second half of 2015 will be approximately 11,000 tonnes in comparison to the actual production output of 103,847 tonnes in the same period last year. The Board wishes to reiterate that the impact of Huanglongbing disease in Xinfeng Plantation is significant with regard to the 2015 winter orange harvest and will have ongoing adverse effect on the results of the Group for the financial year ending 30 June 2016.

Reflecting this and the factors highlighted in previous announcements, it is anticipated that the actual average selling prices of winter orange crop will be approximately 23.6% lower at Xinfeng Plantation compared to the prior year.

As a result of the reduction in the production volumes at both plantations and the anticipated lower selling prices of winter orange crop from Xinfeng Plantation, the Board estimates there will be a reduction in revenue and profit generated from the Group's agricultural produce segment for the financial year ending 30 June 2016 compared to last year's actual figures.

For further enquiries please contact:

 
 Asian Citrus                       [phone] 
 Vasco van der Flier, Head of Investor Relations 
 
 Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (NOMAD    [phone] 
  and Broker)                        7000 
 Rick Thompson/David Foreman/Michael Reynolds 
  (Corporate Finance) 
 
                                    [phone] 
 Weber Shandwick Financial           0700 
 Nick Oborne, Stephanie Badjonat, Tom Jenkins 
 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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December 18, 2015 04:50 ET (09:50 GMT)