A $31 million promotional campaign to boost business after the outbreak of Sars and a fierce price war have dragged Vitasoy International Holdings' interim profit down 32.31 per cent.
The manufacturer and distributor of non-carbonated beverages and food said net profit for the six months ended September fell to $53.82 million.
During the period, the company incurred an additional $31 million in expenditure for a marketing and promotional campaign targeting the Hong Kong and Australian markets, as well as extending its product lines to gain market share.
The company, which distributes more than 240 products in more than 30 markets around the world, said the drop in profit was also partly due to a deferment of $15 million budgeted for the second half of the financial year.
Turnover dropped 1.3 per cent to $1.14 billion.
Executive chairman Winston Lo Yau-lai said the large budget set aside for the marketing campaign would not be repeated in the second half of the financial year. An interim dividend of 2.8 HK cents was proposed, unchanged from the previous year.
