This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 26, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd reported yesterday a 12% year-on-year (y-o-y) fall in its 4Q net profit to RM26.67 million from RM30.30 million, which it blamed on its pricing strategy, higher raw material prices and a negative exchange rate impact.

The effects of these could not be completely offset by the 3.9% rise in revenue to RM281.76 million in the three months that ended Dec 31, 2019 (4QFY19) from RM271.15 million previously, which was driven by higher domestic milk consumption.

For the full FY19, Dutch Lady’s net profit sank 20.5% y-o-y to RM102.96 million from RM129.45 million, despite posting marginally higher annual revenue of RM1.07 billion versus RM1.05 billion previously.

In a stock exchange filing, the group said it recorded a 9.3% volume growth in 4QFY19 and 6.2% for FY19, driven by its innovations, which had focused on occasions and affordability, it said.

Shares in Dutch Lady settled two sen higher yesterday at RM44.50, valuing the group at RM2.85 billion.