Amira Nature Foods Ltd provides update on Indian rice crop planting progress
India’s Commercial Rice Crop Planting Area Increases to 19.6 Million Hectares, Up 6.6% from Last Year Amira Nature Foods Ltd (the “Company”) (NYSE: ANFI), a leading global provider of packaged Indian specialty rice, today announced an update on India’s commercial rice crop planting progress. According to the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, as of July 26, 2013, India’s main summer (Kharif) rice crop planting area increased to approximately 19.64 million hectares, an increase of approximately 6.6% from the 18.42 million hectares sown during last year’s planting season.
The Indian rice planting season runs from May 10(th) to September 28(th) each year. In 2013, India’s rice planting has benefitted from increased rainfall across many parts of key rice areas throughout the country.
Karan A Chanana, the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Over the past few months, weather conditions have been favorable for rice planting. We believe Amira is positioned to benefit from the strong supply of rice combined with the growing global demand for our premium products.
About Amira Nature Foods
Founded in 1915, Amira has evolved into a leading global provider of packaged Indian specialty rice, with sales in over 40 countries today. Amira sells Basmati rice, premium long-grain rice grown only in certain regions of the Indian sub-continent, under their flagship Amira brand as well as under other third party brands. Amira sells its products primarily in emerging markets through a broad distribution network. Amira’s headquarters are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and it also has offices in India, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as that we or our members of management “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “foresee,” “forecast,” “estimate” or other words or phrases of similar import. Specifically, these statements include, among other things, statements that describe our expectations for the current rice planting and harvest, the global demand for our product, the financial impact of new sales contracts on our revenue, our expectations regarding the successful efforts of our distribution partners, and other statements of management’s beliefs, intentions or goals. It is uncertain whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on our results of operations, financial condition, or the price of our ordinary shares. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the effect of weather and other supply conditions on the availability of paddy, our ability to penetrate and increase the acceptance of our products in new geographic markets, our ability to perform our agreements with customers; our ability to recognize revenue from our contracts; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; our reliance on a few customers and distribution partners for a substantial part of our revenue; our ability to implement our plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to our business and realize additional opportunities for growth; and the other risks and important factors contained and identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or to persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these risk factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update any forward- looking or other statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
