The group said it had refocused under the leadership of CEO Neville Brink and interim CFO Ralph Buddle, following the events that led to the delay in publishing the 2021 financial results. File photo.
OCEANA Group, the fishing products group that’s been faced with corporate governance issues in the past few months, yesterday reported a 51.4% decline in headline earnings per share for the six months to March 31.
Headline earnings per share fell to 126.4 cents from 260.5 cents per share, the unaudited results showed. The dividend halved to 55 cents from 110 cents at the same time a year before.
The group said it had refocused under the leadership of CEO Neville Brink and interim CFO Ralph Buddle, following the events that led to the delay in publishing the 2021 financial results.
This week PricewaterhouseCoopers resigned as the group’s auditors for the financial year ending September 2022.
Operationally, the group said it had a difficult first half with revenue down 11% to R3.18bn and gross margin 3.7% lower at 30.2%.
This was largely due to lower inventory levels carried forward from last year as a result of Covid-19 supply chain disruption, the civil unrest in Kwa-Zulu Natal that impacted SA canned fish sales volumes, and Hurricane Ida in Louisiana that impacted fishmeal and fish oil production at the group’s US Daybrook operations.
Performance was further impacted by higher fuel and freight costs, lower landings due to La Niña weather conditions, scheduled vessel maintenance in Namibia and lower cold storage occupancy levels due to the global supply chain impact on import activity.
Cash generated from operations of R322m (R617m) reflected the lower level of operating activity, increased investment in working capital to rebuild inventories and repayment of term debt of R89m (R30m)
The company said demand for canned fish remained strong despite the-difficult consumer environment in South Africa.
edward.west@inl.co.za
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE
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