Devastating winter harvest for Asian Citrus

The AIM-listed citrus farmer said in a statement that the actual winter orange crop at Hepu Plantation was 4,671 tonnes, with a haul of 10,894 tonnes at the Xinfeng Plantation.

Asian Citrus said the tonnage at Xinfeng reflected the dramatic impact of the Huanglongbing disease infection, which impacted a number of crops in the area.

"Accordingly, the total production of winter oranges for the group decreased from 110,993 tonnes for the corresponding period last year to approximately 15,565 tonnes in the period, which represents a decrease of approximately 86%", the company's board said.

Asian Citrus said the average selling price of the oranges was 3% higher at the Hepu Plantation, but 23.6% lower at the Xinfeng Plantation.

"Furthermore, profitability was impacted by the need to apply additional pesticides as to prevent the spread of Huanglongbing disease and protect the unaffected orange trees", the board added.

Asian Citrus' Xinfeng Plantation had ceased operations at the end of the winter orange harvest, as previously indicated in an announcement on 29 December 2015.

The company said revenue generated from the processed fruit business for the period was up by approximately 36.1% and the sale tonnage volume increased by around 18.3%, but the profit margin dropped to approximately 1.6% as there were continuing margin pressures.

Asian Citrus said it would release its interim results on 26 February 2016.

At 1308 GMT, shares were down 12.7% to 3.60p.