Local manufacturer Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances Limited (CFF) has posted a decline of $2.213 million or 10.9 per cent in net profit for its first quarter ending September 30, 2017.

The company posted profit of $18.003 million compared to the $20.216 million recorded for the similar reporting period.

CFF, which manufactures and supplies fragrances for household cleaning, cosmetics, deodorants, soaps, haircare and bath products blamed the performance on severe and unusual weather conditions which negatively impacted sea transportation from its importing countries.

“[There were] other major issues at our local seaport which negatively impacted our logistics for incoming raw materials [and] our ability to deliver finished goods to our overseas customers, and ultimately revenue,” acting chairman of the board, Clive Nicholas said in a statement adjoining the company’s financial report.

The company which also makes flavourings for the food, beverage, baking, confectionery and pharmaceutical industries, generated sales of $99.6 million for the first quarter. It represented a reduction of $1.6 million or 1.54 per cent over the $101.148 million recorded for the same period in 2016.

“This reduction in our revenue performance when compared to [the] previous comparative quarter was primarily attributed to our ability to fulfill expected sales orders based on the issues described above,” it said. CFF anticipates a return to normality regarding the issues faced during the quarter and, as such, expects to announce an improvement in these results over the next reporting period.

“We will continue with the refinement of our strategies and the improvement to our various cost structures in order to drive the desired efficiency, whilst improving our cost of sales and gross profit,” it said.