RUSSIA – Russian dairy and juice firm Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBD) has released figures for the first half of 2004, and net income is down 27.1% on the same period last year.

Gross margins are also down – to 27.7% from 30.3% last year. Commenting on the news, chief executive Sergei Plastinin said: “Profitability for the group is continuing to suffer from the higher cost of raw milk, increases in personnel and transportation costs and high depreciation charges.” Despite that, sales of the company’s dairy products continue to grow as it expands production. For the first half, sales were up 33.4% on the same period last year at