SOUTH AFRICA – JSE-listed poultry producer Astral Foods is currently experiencing a significant turnaround, reporting improved results for the six months ending March 31.

This positive performance is attributed to its “reset, refocus, and restart campaign,” launched to counter substantial losses from load shedding and avian influenza during the 2023 financial year.

Astral Foods reports a dramatic 461% increase in operating profit, reaching R550 million (US$30M) for the current period, compared to R98 million (US$5.4M) in the same period last year.

In the latest six months, Astral’s poultry division is seeing a 6.7% revenue increase, totaling R8.7 billion.

This growth is driven by higher sales volumes and increased selling prices. 

Despite reducing broiler bird numbers from an average of 5.8 million birds per week in September 2023 to 5.4 million birds per week in the current period, broiler sales volumes rise by 4.2% year-on-year to 10,106 tonnes.

Significantly, the company’s broiler performance has improved following the normalization of bird age and live weight in June 2023, after clearing a backlog in its slaughter program.

The poultry division now reports a 200% increase in operating profit, reaching R284 million (US$15.6M) , compared to a R283 million (US$15.4M) loss in the same period last year.

During this period, Astral imports 32,544 tonnes of product, a slight decrease from the previous 34,072 tonnes.

Despite lower sales volumes, Astral manages to contain operating expenses in the feed division.

The group generates R806 million (US$44.4M)  in cash from operations, helping to reduce debt from R1.01 billion (US$55.4M)  at the end of September last year to R444 million (US$2.4M) by the end of March.

Astral’s interim financial results benefit from R141 million in disposal proceeds from selling its 9.8% stake in Quantum Foods Holdings.

Headline earnings per share increased by 441% year-on-year to 884 cents. The company decides not to declare an interim dividend.

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