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Dairy producer Yili projects loss in 2008

By Ding Qingfen (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-23 11:41

Inner Mongolia Yili Group (Yili), China's largest dairy producer by sales revenue, said that the tainted milk scandal had plunged the company into the red in 2008.

In a statement, the company said that 2008 results were depressed by sharply declining sales and the high cost on product promotions to restore consumers' confidence battered by the scandal.

The company did not specify its loss in 2008.

US investment bank Morgan Stanley has predicted Yili's loss in 2008 could amount to as much as 2.3 billion yuan ($336 million).

Yili is not the only dairy producer in China to project losses. Last December, China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd (Mengniu), China's largest liquid milk producer, estimated that its 2008 losses could reach 900 million yuan. Shanghai Bright Dairy (Bright) also said in its 2008 third quarter fiscal report that it expected a huge loss in 2008. The company posted a loss of 271 million yuan in the third quarter of last year.