Astral Foods shareholders on Tuesday brushed aside a trading update from the poultry producer in which it said half-year earnings fell up to 55% because of higher costs and lower selling prices.
Poultry producers have been grappling with cheap imports, rising and volatile maize costs, and subdued demand amid the stagnation of SA’s economy. To gain some relief, the industry, which directly employs about 50,000 people, is seeking higher import tariffs on frozen chicken portions. Astral would only start to see the benefit of lower maize prices in the fourth quarter to end-September. The group would then benefit from lower prices and the industry could also benefit from a mooted hike in import tariffs.
Astral said on Tuesday that its headline earnings per share in the six months to end-March 2019 fell between 50% and 55% compared to a year earlier.
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