Sri Lanka poultry feed mill group in the red

May 07, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s Ceylon Grain Elevators group, which has interests in feed milling and poultry said it lost 7.8 million rupees in the March 2014 quarter as demand for feed fell, though day old chick demand was recovering. But subsidiary Three Acre Farms which sells day old chicks said profits rose 210 percent to 67 million rupees, with a recovery in demand for day old chicks, helping reduce group losses.

The group reported losses of 13 cents per share for the quarter. At core company level, it lost 52 million rupees.

Group revenues fell 20 percent to 2.58 billion rupees and expenses fell 21 percent to 2.4 billion rupees shrinking gross profits 3 percent to 150 million rupees in the quarter.

Cheng Chih Kwong, Primus said average selling price of chicken fell amid a glut in the market and feed sales also dropped due to intense competition.

Meanwhile the cost of local raw materials such as maize and rice polish had risen

Sri Lanka is one of the few remaining countries in the world that practices autarky and grain and cereal prices can go up when world prices fall, either due to weather or state controls.