Australian agricultural chemical firm Nufarm has announced a massive turnaround in its fortunes after experiencing a heavy loss in 2015 due to significant restructure costs.
The company made $20 million after tax in the six months to February, dramatically recovering from its $91 million loss during the same period in 2015.
That loss was driven by substantial restructuring costs exceeding more than $102 million.
Nufarm managing director and chief executive Greg Hunt said the results demonstrated the benefits of changes that have been made to the business over the past 18 months.
"The sales growth was achieved despite tough industry conditions with the global crop protection market estimated to be down approximately 2 per cent in calendar year 2016," he said.
The subdued global crop price has put pressure on both demand for and pricing of farming inputs, according to Nufarm.
"We expect the global crop protection market to remain very competitive, with low soft commodity pricing prevailing due to the strong crop harvests in most key cropping regions" Mr Hunt said in a statement.
Sales and revenue growth as well as margin expansion has been credited for the strong performance.
Mr Hunt said sales increased across all regions - except Europe, which was down by 3 per cent on a constant currency basis.
"With the benefit of our cost savings and performance improvement program, together with new product launches and improved customer relationships, I'm confident the business will continue to generate profitable growth."
Nufarm's share price jumped as much as 4 per cent this morning in a generally falling market on the back of the half-year results announcement.
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