By Jean Paul Arouff
August 16, 2010 4:29 PM EDT
Mauritian sugar producer Omnicane said a land sale helped it post a narrower half-year loss, and it could return to profit later in the year when a refinery upgrade is completed.
The firm said its six-months after tax loss was 26.18 million rupees from a 154 million rupee loss last year, while revenues rose to 1.35 billion rupees in the six months to end-June, from 1.32 billion last year.
The firm expects its new $200 million factory to produce 200,000 tonnes of sugar per year -- roughly two fifths of Mauritius' total sugar exports -- and generate electricity and produce ethanol.
"The completion of works on the refinery capacity expansion by the end of the year would improve contribution to profit whilst the energy plants are expected to operate normally in the current semester," it said in a statement.
Mauritian sugar output is seen flat this year from 2009 while prices are expected to fall 15 percent this year due to appreciation of the rupee currency, it added.
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Omnicane obtained a 15 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) in February, to help it handle the end of preferential European Union prices for sugar from African, Caribbean and Pacific states.
Sugar, which contributes 3 percent of the gross domestic product, is one of the nation's leading employers and firms have been diversifying products and cutting costs after the EU ended the preferential trade terms for the sector.
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