Market expects gloom from PIC
14 December 1998
Market expects gloom from PIC
PIC International, the pig genetics company, is expected to have a grim picture to paint when it meets analysts this week ahead of its half-year end.
Pork prices are in a trough, hit by over-production on the one hand and lower demand on the other.
In November it forecast pre-tax profits for the current six months would halve from the £14.3 million achieved in the same period of last year. It expects to report for the six months early in the new year.
Shares in the company have remained high despite its apparently poor prospects. There remains the suspicion that a bid is in the offing.
The Financial Times reports that the group will have weathered the difficult times in the industry well – showing a profit, albeit a heavily reduced one, at a time when many of the companys rivals are loss-making.
- Slump in pig prices hits PIC, FWi, 06 November, 1998
- Financial Times 14/12/98 page 20