Li & Fung: Annual turnover declines by 4.6 percent to 13.5 bn dollars

Li & Fung Limited reported turnover decrease of 4.6 percent to 13.5 billion dollars and total margin as a percentage of turnover increased from 9.9 percent to 10.2 percent.. The company said, improved operating efficiency and productivity led to a 21.8 percent increase in the core operating profit of the services segment of supply chain solutions and logistics businesses.

Commenting on the 2017 annual results, Spencer Fung, Group CEO of Li & Fung, said in a media statement: “Our new three-year plan had a strong start in its first year and we are on track to meet our financial targets and strategic goals. At the same time, our logistics business, which completes our end-to-end supply chain solutions, continues to grow its COP by 23.8 percent, driven by e-logistics, deeper penetration of our core customers supported by cross-selling with our supply chain solutions business and entry to new markets such as India and Vietnam.”

For the full year, on a like-for-like basis when excluding the impact of the strategic divestment of three product verticals and 2016 divestment of the Asia consumer and healthcare distribution business, core operating profit increased by 13.3 percent to 356 million dollars and core operating profit as a percentage of turnover increased from 2.2 percent to 2.6 percent.

“Our strategy to further simplify the business and focus on our core supply chain solutions business is in turn helping our customers to revamp their business model and counter disruptions in other markets,” added Group Chairman William Fung.

The company’s board of directors has proposed a final dividend of 2 Hong Kong cents, along with the declared conditional special dividend of 47.6 Hong Kong cents per share, for a total of 49.6 Hong Kong cents per share, bringing the full-year dividend to 60.6 Hong Kong cents per share.