Senwes turnover down by 17,3%

South Africa’s second-largest agribusiness company, Senwes, said poor harvests in the central and western parts of the country over two consecutive years, hit the company’s results hard for the year ended on 30 April 2014.

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The group’s turnover declined by 17,3% to R11,47 billion for the period under review, compared to R13,9 billion the year before.

Franciois Strydom, managing director of Senwes , said the entry into the local market by international soft commodity houses, which mainly dealt in coffee, cocoa, sugar, maize, wheat, soya bean and fruit had also affected the company’s financial position.

Soft commodities are normally used by farmers wishing to lock in the future prices of their crops by commercial buyers and by speculative investors seeking a profit.

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Strydom also said that besides the previous season’s drought, government land restitution rhetoric were sending the wrong signals to potential investors.

He was expecting a bumper harvest for the 2014/2015 season. This could have a possible impact on the company’s figures for the current financial year.