WELLINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's largest red meat exporter Silver Fern Farms released its 2023 annual results on Tuesday, which reflected a year of challenging market conditions impacting the whole supply chain.

"Depressed consumer confidence across our key markets has put pressure on our customers, the Operating Company, and ultimately, returns for our farmer suppliers," said Silver Fern Farms Co-operative Chair Rob Hewett.

The impact of one-off events throughout the year, such as Cyclone Gabrielle, caused damage and disrupted operations at the processing sites for a number of weeks, Hewett said.

He said after several years of strong performance and record returns to shareholders, it is disappointing to not be in a position to distribute any dividends but is confident in the Operating Company's ability to recover when market conditions become more favorable.

Silver Fern Farms Limited has posted a 24.4 million NZ dollars (14.53 million U.S. dollars) loss after tax, with revenue decreasing 497 million NZ dollars on the previous year to 2.78 billion NZ dollars. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative has posted a 10.7 million NZ dollars loss after tax, according to the annual results.

Silver Fern Farms Limited Chief Executive Dan Boulton said challenging market conditions were experienced across the course of last year and are expected to persist well into the current year.

"Weakened market sentiment has been compounded by increased supply dynamics out of the likes of Australia and South America," Boulton said, adding that this has added more volume to already high in-market inventory levels, and put downward pressure on pricing.

While a recovery in beef pricing in the shorter term has been expected due to increased demand out of the United States, sheep meats will be expected to take longer to recover, he said, adding that venison returns have been less impacted overall, thanks in part to increased investment in new market opportunities over the last few years.

More higher value customers and consumers connect with the Silver Fern Farms' brand and the product, Boulton said, stressing progress towards sustainability.

Silver Fern Farms Ltd is New Zealand's leading processor and marketer of beef, lamb, mutton, venison and associated products to more than 60 countries and regions, according to the company. (1 NZD equals 0.59 USD) Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)