China's napkin maker Hengan near 13-year low on profit drop, lower dividend

Hengan International

22/03/2022 05:57

** Shares of China's sanitary napkin and diaper products
maker Hengan International Group Co Ltd  1044.HK  fall 6.1% to
HK$36, their lowest since July 2009
    ** Stock set for biggest daily percentage decline since
March 2017 if losses hold; down for a second straight session
    ** Co says 2021 net profit dropped 28.8% y/y to 3.27 bln
yuan ($514.1 mln) while revenue fell 7.1% and gross profit
margin slid to 37.4% from 42.3%  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2VO13D
    ** Says consumers particularly sensitive to prices of daily
necessities 
    ** Hengan expects high cost of wood pulp will continue to
exert pressure on its profitability in 2022
    ** Co proposes a final dividend of 0.7 yuan per share,
compared to 1.3 yuan a year earlier
    ** The Hang Seng Commerce & Industry Index  .HSNC  jumps
3.1% and the Hang Seng composite Industry Index tracking
consumer staples  .HSCICS  climbs 0.8%
    ** The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  surges
2.6%, and the benchmark Hang Seng Index  .HSI  rises 1.9%
($1 = 6.3604 Chinese yuan)

 (Reporting by Donny Kwok)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com))