Listed honey and oils company Comvita was mauled on the sharemarket yesterday after it confirmed it would make a significant first-half loss because of poor honey production and the impact of trading rule changes in the key Chinese market.
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It expects a loss of $7-7.5 million for the six months ended December, which will include a $2.8m writedown in the value of its one-third share of fish oil producer Sea Dragon.
Comvita chief executive Scott Coulter said Sea Dragon was an important part of its plan to broaden the mix of its products and lessen its dependence on bee products.
"It is a long-term investment - their share price moves up and down - but in the long-term we see a huge future for New Zealand-sourced fish oil," he said.
Comvita was forecasting a full-year profit of between $20m and $22m, compared with a previous forecast of about $17m.
However, that result was expected to include some of the sale proceeds of its stake in Derma Sciences, which was announced last week.
Comvita shares fell 17 percent yesterday to close at $6.50 each.
