September 19, 2020

South Africa's Astral Foods sees 25% decline in earnings for FY2020

Astral Foods of South Africa said in a trading update on Monday, Sept. 14, that it expects its earnings per share (EPS) for financial year 2020 (ending September 2020) to decline by up to 25% from the previous year, dented by costs in managing the risks brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company, a leading integrated poultry producer in the country, noted that the hard lockdown, which saw more chicken being channeled to frozen production, resulted in higher stock levels of individually quick frozen (IQF) portions in the poultry industry.

"This resulted in downward pressure on selling prices to the consumer market, which negatively affected the financial results for the 2020 financial year", it said in the update.

It added that despite the pandemic dampener, the operating profit for the Group is expected to be down by not more than 15%.

Chief executive Chris Schutte said Astral was cautiously satisfied with its performance, considering the negative impact of the pandemic lockdown in the second half of the financial year.

He added that the company remained resilient to the market conditions during this period, as per report of the news site IOL.

Astral Foods said it will publish the financial results for FY 2020 by Nov. 16.