SEOUL, South Korean food company CJ CheilJedang Corp. said Tuesday its first-quarter net profit more than tripled from a year earlier on robust sales of gift sets and high-end products. Net profit for the three months ended in March soared to 154.63 billion won (US$113 million) from 49.32 billion won during the same period of last year, the company said in a statement. "Strong sales of CJ's gift sets ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in February, were factored in the quarterly results. And increased sales of amino acid for livestock and other high-end nutrition products helped," a company spokesperson said over the phone. In the first quarter of 2023, CJ gift set sales for the Lunar New Year holiday were not reflected because most of the sales took place in December 2022, one month ahead of the holiday that fell in January 2023, she said. The bottom line also got a boost from strong sales of dumpling products under CJ's Bibigo brand and other food products in the United States, Europe and A ustralia, the statement said. Operating profit jumped 49 percent to 375.94 billion won in the first quarter from 252.78 billion won a year ago. Sales were up 2 percent to 7.22 trillion won from 7.07 trillion won. CJ CheilJedang has business entities in the U.S., Britain, Australia, Japan, China and Thailand, among others. It plans to open an office in France this year as part of its expansion strategy. Source: Yonhap News Agency
Saturday, July 27, 2024