Winn-Dann Foods Q1 Profit Slump

LONDON - Jun 16/05 - SNS -- Russia's Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC reported net income of U.S. $2.9 million on sales of $325.7 million during the quarter ending March 31, compared to net income of $5.3 million on sales of $278.3 million during the first quarter of the 2004 fiscal year.

Sergei Plastinin, Chief Executive Officer of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC, explained, "Traditionally, the first quarter is the most challenging one throughout the year. Despite this, our sales continued to demonstrate stable growth: our dairy sales were up 18.4% largely due to regional expansion, the launch of new innovative products and the strengthening of the already existing product range.

"Following the success of Imunele, our immune system booster, we launched Imunele Forte, a new product enriched with probiotics and vitamins. We also initiated an awareness campaign to focus people's minds on healthier lifestyles.

"During the first quarter we almost doubled the output of Lamber cheese, following increasing consumer demand for this product. Our operating income grew 26.3%, while our net income decreased mainly as a result of substantial decline in foreign currency translation gain as compared to the first quarter of 2004 due to the change in the exchange rate dynamics."

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