Performance credible, says FHL
Friday August 24, 2007

FHL chairman, Joe Mar

Fijian Holdings Group Ltd has described the performance of its 2007 financial year (ended June 30) as "credible" given the challenging economic environment.

FHL Group reports that its consolidated earnings before tax for the year ended June 30, 2007, declined by 10.7 per cent from the previous year to $21.7 million.

Group chairman, Joe Mar attributed this mainly to increase in Group operating expenses of 13 per cent, stemming from increase in prices of raw materials and increase in group finance costs, which more than doubled, due to the high interest rate environment.

The increase in these costs more than off-set the increase in group revenue of 4 per cent to $97.6m from 2006, he said.

Net assets for the FHL Group declined by 12 per cent, largely driven by the decline in value of Foster's Group Pacific Limited shares on the South Pacific Stock Exchange as at 30 June 2007.

Group managing director Sitiveni Weleilakeba says these results reflected the contracting operating environment that the group subsidiaries faced in the second six months of the financial year after the events of December 6.

He says the group has been very vigilant in containing costs and protecting revenue lines during this period.

"However, the outlook for the next financial year is weak and will improve if our economic fundamentals strengthen," he said.

Weleilakeba says the FHL Group portfolio is very sensitive to uncertainties and the challenge in the next financial year was to diversify into more stable sectors and to explore off-shore investment opportunities to ensure the sustainability of shareholders funds into the future.