Pork giant buoyed by higher prices

Staff reporter

WH Group's (0288) net profit surged 156 percent year-on-year to US$1.6 billion (HK$12.48 billion) last year, as higher selling prices helped offset the impact of lower sales.

Net income before biological fair value adjustments also soared 142.7 percent to HK$1.47 billion for the year ended December 2024, the world's largest pork producer said in a statement.

The pork giant declared a final dividend of 40 HK cents, up by 60 percent from one year ago.

Full-year revenue decreased by 1.1 percent to US$25.9 billion, as the sales volume of packaged meats and pork shrank by 3.0 percent and 4.9 percent respectively. However, the higher sales prices helped boost the operating profit by 63.4 percent to US$2.4 billion.

In terms of packaged meats, revenue in China dropped 7.8 percent, mainly due to a lack of demand from the market and the weak yuan. Income in North America inched up by 0.5 percent as the increase in average selling price countervailed the fall in sales.

WH's total number of hogs processed in 2024 slid by 7.8 percent to 45 million heads, mainly due to the keen market competition and weak consumption demand in China and the reduction of a processing facility in North America.