Snow Brand Milk Products Co. Ltd., still struggling to recover from a food poisoning scandal, reported its first annual profit in five years after extensive restructuring.

In the year to March, Snow Brand Milk posted a net profit of 1.4 bln yen, or 6.18 yen per share, compared to a loss of 27.1 bln yen or 165.07 yen a share the previous year.

"As a result of our restructuring efforts, we managed to post the first net profit in five years," company president Tadaaki Kounose said at a news conference.

The company is now a general dairy products company after the spinoff of its milk business.

"We have just completed the first step of our restructuring plan... and we are on course to achieve key commitments of the second step," Kounose said.

Under its medium-term management plan, Snow Brand Milk pledged to record a profit in the year to March 2004, make up accumulated losses by the year to March 2006, and resume dividend payments in the year to March 2007.

As of March 31, Snow Brand Milk still had accrued losses of 7.3 billion yen.