In a challenging financial year to 31 December 2024, the Sea Harvest Group delivered reported earnings before income and tax (EBIT) of R609 million, up 6%, and headline earnings per share (HEPS) of 55 cents. Aided by the successful acquisition of Sea Harvest Pelagic and Aqunion, the Group achieved a 16% growth in revenue, totalling R7.2 billion.
Sea Harvest Group CEO, Felix Ratheb, says, “The period under review was our toughest since listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2017, however, while the year presented certain challenges, our ability to navigate them speaks volumes about the strength of our strategy and operations. Despite our resilience, the Group’s performance was impacted by historically poor catch rates in our South African hake business and at our Australian prawn business with catch rates in South Africa now 25% below those seen in 2021 and catch volumes in Australia 28% below the 10-year average. This has resulted in lower volumes and higher costs. Compounding this were lower prawn prices, now 23% behind 2022 pricing, as the world works through an oversupply of prawn – a COVID-19 artefact. In addition, lower pricing also impacted our abalone operations with prices down 35% from pre-COVID-19 levels, predominantly driven by the prevailing economic conditions in Hong Kong and China.”
“As a business, we have focussed on trying to address the current low catch rates, where we added four additional hake trawlers to our fleet during 2024 and early into 2025,” added Ratheb. The Group believes that the additional fishing capacity in South Africa coupled with the implementation of effort reduction strategies in Australia are expected to significantly counter low catch rates and support the recovery of prawn, crab, and scallop resources respectively.
Whilst pricing in abalone and prawns remains an anchor due to their respective market conditions, the Group continues to experience strong market conditions for hake, with robust ongoing demand, further complemented by a solid performance from its recently acquired division, Sea Harvest Pelagic. This performance was capped off with a highly resilient showing from Ladismith Cheese.
Looking ahead, Ratheb emphasized that the Group is focussed on a period of consolidation, with strategic goals centered around enhancing efficiencies, cost containment, cash generation and debt reduction, thereby strengthening its financial position. “We remain confident in the strong demand for sustainable, wild-caught seafood and products driving premium pricing and with a majority of our revenue generated in hard currency, our goal is to capitalise on this opportunity and take full advantage of the anticipated rebound in our marine resources and Asian markets,” concluded Ratheb.
The Group has declared a final cash ordinary dividend of 22 cents per share in respect of the year ended 31 December 2024.