Despite a sustained difficult operating environment, JSE-listed Tiger Brands on Tuesday reported flat headline earnings a share from continuing operations of 978c for the six months ended March 31.
Earnings a share increased 7% to 1 021c, while the company’s after-tax profit increased 44% to R1.7-billion and its turnover by 9% to R15.9-billion.
The grains division’s sales rose 10% to R6.2-billion in the six months under review.
“The company has delivered solid results for the first half of the year and, being mindful of the challenging macroeconomic environment, we are cautious about the outlook for the second half,” said CEO Lawrence Mac Dougall.
Former acting CEO Noel Doyle noted that the group expected the macroeconomic outlook to continue to pose challenges and further put pressure on consumers.
“Key variables in the dynamic macroeconomic picture include food inflation rising faster than other items in the consumer price index (CPI) basket, the prolonged drought exacerbating pressures on the local food supply market and currency depreciation, which impact on production input costs,” he said.
He cited that these were still expected to manifest fully in the second half of the year.
“Tiger Brands will continue to refine and augment its basic formula of investing and building on the success of its brands, focusing on attracting and retaining top talent, strengthening governance processes, and remaining in touch with consumers to ensure the continued delivery of sustainable growth,” said Doyle.
During the six months under review, Tiger Brands had sold its loss-making Tiger Branded Consumer Goods business, in Nigeria, which was treated as a discontinued operation in the interim results.