Sojaprotein reported preliminary results for the first half of 2009 yesterday. Sales came in at RSD 8.4bn (up 31% y/y) in 1H09. (Operating revenues were not available.) Net profit came in at RSD 162.5m for 1H09, down 70% y/y due to the heavy financial loss booked in the first quarter. Sojaprotein plans to achieve non-consolidated operating revenues of RSD 15.2bn (down 20% y/y) and pre-tax profit of RSD 945m in full-year 2009. (Pre-tax profit came in at RSD 407m in full-year 2008.) Additional figures will be reported soon. Our view: Sojaprotein’s sales figure came in 40% above our forecast for 1H09. This implies that contrary to our expectations the company did not fully exit trading sales in the period. Instead the departure from trading sales will probably occur in 2010. Net profit came in way below our forecast of RSD 606m as we had not expected the heavy loss in 1Q09. The figure was some 65% below the plan announced by the company in May 2009. No EBIT figure was available. We expect a positive to neutral market reaction as the 1H09 figures suggest 2Q09 was much stronger than 1Q09. However, we intend to wait for the complete 1H09 and 2Q09 figures before making any changes to our forecasts.