February 2, 2010

MHP Q4 chicken sales up 51%

Ukrainian agro-industrial company MHP SA said its fourth quarter sales of chicken rose 50.7% year-on-year to 80,000 tonnes.

For the full 2009 year, MHP's sales volumes rose 26.9% to 272,900 tonnes. During the year, the company increased its monthly poultry production volumes and sales by nearly 50% on-year by launching phase two of the Myronivka poultry farm.

Average chicken meat sales prices in the fourth quarter increased 6.6% on-year to UAH12.37 (US$1.54) per kg of adjusted weight, excluding value-added tax (VAT). Full year prices climbed 6.4% on-year to UAH12.79 (US$1.59) per kg.

Poultry production costs during the fourth quarter were higher compared to the same period in 2008 due to higher corn prices. But the higher corn prices during the fourth quarter are expected to help the financial performance of the company's grain production segment.

For the full 2009 year, sausage and cooked meat production jumped 53.8% to 24,600 tonnes compared to 16,000 tonnes in 2008. Fourth quarter sausage and cooked meat production volumes surged 20.8% to 6,400 tonnes compared to 5,300 tonnes a year ago.