Sinofert sees 2007 profit down 26%

Sinofert Holdings Ltd<297>, China's largest fertilizer supplier by sales, said its 2007 net profit declined 26% year-on-year led by the devaluation of convertible bonds.

The Beijing-based company, in which Canada's Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc holds a 20% stake, noted net income slumped to HK$663.3 million for the fiscal year of 2007, compared with HK$896.2 million a year earlier, according to its filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Sales soared 39% from the previous year to hit HK$29.44 billion.

However, exclusive the HK$623.2 million loss in the devaluation of convertible bonds, the supplier enjoyed a handsome increase of 43% in net profit to stand at HK$1.29 billion.

Sinofert, a subsidiary of state-owned Sinochem Corp, announced a final dividend of HK$0.0276, higher than HK$0.0231 in 2006. Sinochem is among the world's top 500 companies.