Food company Osem Investments Ltd. (controlled by Nestle SA (SWX:NESN)) (TASE: OSEM) reported its first quarter results this morning. The company's sales turnover grew by 1.1% to NIS 1.08 billion in the quarter, compared with NIS 1.068 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2014.
Sales in the domestic market grew 0.7% to NIS 900 million. The growth in part stems from the early timing of the Passover holiday this year. Osem says that the growth in the sales figure was achieved despite a rise in discounts and special bargain sales as a result of implementation of the Food Law from January 2015. Under the law, agreements with the large retailers were amended, such that transactions that in the past were recorded as services and classified under cost of sales were instead recorded as discounts in sales invoices.
The group's overseas sales grew by 3.3% in the first quarter to NIS 179.6 million.
Osem posted an operating profit of NIS 141.2 million in the first quarter of this year, compared with NIS 139.66 million in the corresponding quarter of last year, representing growth of 1.1%.
The company's net profit in the first quarter was NIS 103.5 million, 4% more than the NIS 99.5 million posted in the first quarter of 2014. The rise in net profit is attributed to the rise in operating profit plus a decline in finance expenses.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 31, 2015
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