This was on the back of a 2.1% increase in revenue from R6.8bn to R7bn, largely as a result of significantly lower feed selling prices
and volumes sold external to Rainbow.
Rainbow's average price realisations decreased by 2.7% and volumes were 5.1%
higher.
A final dividend of 48 cents per share was declared compared to 44 cents for the
previous year. This brought the total dividend for the year to 76 cents per
share, which was an increase of 11.8% on the previous year's 68 cents.
Looking ahead, the group said that maize and soya prices are likely to remain at the
lower levels with excellent crops expected locally and in Argentina. The
exchange rate is expected to remain volatile, while feed prices are
expected to decline but remain higher than historical levels.
Chicken realisations are also expected to remain under pressure as a result of
sluggish domestic demand, additional local production capacity and the current
higher levels of imports.
Energy rate cost increases, driven largely by oil and the approved electricity rate increase, are not expected to be fully recovered in chicken realisations, Rainbow added.
- I-Net Bridge