May 31, 2012

 

 

Fishing firm, Sanford has revealed revenue for the six months concluding at March 31, as up slightly on-year to a total of NZD230 million (US$175 million), a 15% rise in EBITDA to NZD29.9 million (US$22.8 million).

 

After tax profit for the period rose slightly to NZD13.3 million (US$10.1 million) compared to NZD13.1 million (US$9.97 million) last year.

 

The company said that its greenshell mussel sale volumes and revenues soared by over 40% for the period; the acquisition of Pacifica Seafoods and the upgrade at Havelock generated the expected benefits. Scampi sales rocketed once the Chinese market opened up and slashed inventory to current catch levels.

 

Sanford said these increases offset the drop in sale volumes of hoki, squid, salmon and skipjack tuna.

 

In most cases, price increases for hake, hoki, ling, greenshell mussels, skipjack tuna and squid were reduced or annulled by the stronger NZD exchange rate, while prices decreased for salmon, orange roughy and toothfish. The average exchange rate for the six month-period in question climbed to US$0.80 this year from US$0.76 for the same period last year.

 

For inshore and aquaculture operations, profitability went up while deepwater returns remained stable. Pacific tuna profitability, however, suffered from the unavailability of the San Nikunau for the first part of the year and subpar catches from the company's other two vessels.

 

Market prices for the six months ending on March 31 remained firm and stable for most species even while many international commodity food prices have softened, the firm noted.

 

Mussel prices remained more stable this year and in almost all markets demand is strong. However, there have been signs of weakness in European markets as a result of the current economic chaos affecting the Euro centric economies.

 

Sanford stated that skipjack tuna prices have reached record highs due to mediocre catches in various international fisheries. Regardless, it is anticipated that skipjack prices will remain solid through at least the next quarter.

 

For the past year, international salmon prices have continued to fall, impacted by the renewal of substantial Atlantic salmon production from Chile after a period where disease had decimated its supply. Salmon prices are thus expected to remain in flux.

 

As far as the company's sustainable development, Sanford recently renewed its ISO 14001 certification of its New Zealand sites and New Zealand-based fishing vessels.

 

Regarding the heated issue of foreign charter vessels, the company proactively conducted extensive independent investigations and audits of various aspects of its charter operations in New Zealand, Korea and Indonesia. As a result of these investigations, the firm is implementing new systems to ensure better accuracy, transparency and traceability with all relevant parties and particularly the crews, Sanford informed.

 

The company expects that profitability in the second six months of 2012 will be improved on-year if international market conditions remain the same.