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TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/30/13 -- Feronia Inc. ("Feronia" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: FRN) today released its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2012. All amounts in this release are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise indicated.
2012 Highlights
-- Revenue of $7.1 million (2011: $7.4 million) from the sale of 6,993 tonnes of Crude Palm Oil ("CPO") at an average price of $906 per tonne (2011: 6,737 tonnes at $984 per tonne)-- Replanted 3,924 hectares ("ha") of oil palm (2011: 2,110 ha)-- Produced 7,044 tonnes of CPO (2011: 7,981) from 38,596 tonnes of fruit (2011: 46,632 tonnes)-- Fresh fruit bunch ("FFB") yield of 6.1 tonnes per ha (2011: 4.92 tonnes per ha on a like-for-like basis excluding Yaligimba)-- Increase in oil extraction rate ("OER") to 18.25% (2011: 17.11%)-- Average CPO Free Fatty Acid ("FFA") content of 2.35% (2011: 3.90%)-- 1,579 km of operational roads (2011: 1,022 km)-- Management Training Program reintroduced-- Construction of Yaligimba CPO mill progressed-- Rice drying and processing facility completed-- Net loss attributable to Feronia was $(5.9m) or $(0.04) per share, compared to a loss of $(5.7m) or $(0.04) per share in 2011-- Closed two tranches of brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of Cdn$7.7 millionSubsequent Events
-- Rice planted in October 2012 demonstrated commercial yields-- First sales of own grown rice made in Q1 2013 to local customers-- Appointment of new Managing Director of Palm Oil division-- Completed non-brokered private placement in March 2013 led by strategic investor African Agriculture Fund for aggregate gross proceeds of Cdn$14.5 million, including approximately Cdn$2.4 million from existing qualifying shareholders of the Company.
Bill Dry, CEO of Feronia Inc. commented: "Much has been achieved during the year across our business. In palm oil, our replanting program continues apace with almost 4,000 hectares planted during the year. This is a key value driver for Feronia and was, we believe, the largest such program in Africa in 2012. Replanting over 600,000 trees is no small undertaking and achieving this is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff. Furthermore, we have already re-planted 422 ha in the first two weeks of the planting season in March 2013 and have confidence our 2013 target of 5,000 hectares is achievable.
"Our arable business has also made good progress with the completion of our rice drying and processing facilities meaning we have been able to commence processing and selling our own crop in to the local market. This is hugely pleasing as the level of demand we are experiencing and the prices we are achieving support our earlier assumptions. We intend to continue planting trial crops during 2013 to further test commercial viability and scalability."
About Feronia Inc.
-- Feronia operates large-scale commercial oil palm plantations and has commenced an arable farming operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the "DRC").-- The Company, through its subsidiaries, holds concessions on land which is owned by the DRC government and on which its oil palm plantation and farming operations take place.-- The Company uses modern agricultural practices to operate and develop its oil palm plantations and arable farming. Feronia believes in the immense agricultural potential of the DRC for high-quality edible oils, oil derivatives and foodstuffs given the suitability of its climate and soil and the availability of a skilled workforce.-- The Company's management team is comprised of experienced administrative executives and senior agriculturalists with extensive experience in managing both plantations and large-scale mechanized farming operations in emerging markets.-- Feronia is committed to sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and providing jobs and economic growth for local communities.-- For more information please see www.feronia.com.
