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Flour business in Fiji suffered heavily in 2008 amid soaring commodity prices and a price regulated local market.
An indication is the $7.2 million loss posted by the Flour Mills of Fiji Ltd in its recently released draft annual report for its financial year ended June 30 2009.
It saw FMF - only the flour trading business - taking $7.2 million loss to its books, a complete turnaround from the $4.4 million profit it made in its 2008 financial year.
When results of FMF subsidiaries were factored in - these include a number of unlisted and listed companies producing flour-based products - the FMF Group took to its books a $7.1 million loss, compared to the $4.5 million profit it made in 2008.
A big $16 million jump in the cost of raw materials and consumables used by the group was a significant contributing factor.
This cost rose from $114 million in 2008 to around $130 million in the 2009 financial year.
“That relates to the cost of wheat that we import. As you know, the price of wheat was soaring,” FMF board secretary Kumar Shankar told Fiji Live.
“But this is just a draft report. More explanations on the results will be released by our chairman next week,” Shankar added.
The principal activities of the group comprise the milling of wheat, rice and whole dunfield peas, manufacturing of packaging materials including corrugated cartons and assorted boxes and packets, manufacturing of biscuits and snacks food products, sale of crushed and feed wheat and related products and investment.
FMF is listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange and last traded at 69 cents per share.
