Afgri said earnings per share were expected to decrease by between 5% and 15% for the same period. The company said the headline earnings per share were affected by losses in its animal protein division, largely due to higher poultry imports, and rising feed costs. “These factors resulted in considerable reductions in margins, which have placed the South African poultry industry in distress,” Afgri stated.
The company warned in its interim results, released in March, that it was continuously monitoring its poultry division.
“The Government is still in the process of addressing the proposed additional import tariffs and anti-dumping initiatives to combat the record levels of imports. Should these initiatives not materialise soon the Board will assess the possible impairment of the poultry business which has not been taken into account in this trading statement. Such possible impairment will impact earnings per share but not headline earnings per share,” Afgri said.
The trading statement included the impact of the estimated capital profit to be realised with the implementation of the recently approved merger of the Group’s retail business with that of Senwes Limited. Afgri hoped to release its final results for the year ending 30 June 2013 on 4 September 2013.
