CAPE TOWN: The Sea Harvest Group has delivered a strong set of interim results for the period ending 30 June 2019 with a 52% increase in headline earnings to R169 million and a 32% increase in headline earnings per share (HEPS) to 61.1 cents compared to the same period last year. Another important highlight for the Group during the period was the retention of its Level 1 broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) contributor status, with an improved score of 104.44 (previously 100.37).
Sea Harvest Group Chief Executive Officer, Felix Ratheb, says the Group’s key focus for the six-month period in review was on, inter alia, realising the benefits of recent acquisitions while driving the expected efficiency gains from investments in its Saldanha Bay operations. “The leadership, our management teams and staff have been working hard to ensure that the investment injected into the business in recent years delivers the expected returns and we have, thankfully, seen this effort pay-off,” says Ratheb.
“The satisfactory results come on the back of the acquisition of Viking Fishing and Ladismith Cheese, which have been earnings accretive for the company and the 100% buyout and subsequent de-listing of our Australian subsidiary, Mareterram, which serves as a beachhead for further growth in that strategic market,”” adds Ratheb.
In terms of transformation, the Group has continued to invest significant resources in skills development, employment equity, supplier and enterprise development initiatives, as well as projects focused on job creation, youth and rural development. “To further drive social change, we have also actively supported the entry of two new black small, medium and micro- enterprises (SMME) into the South African fishing sector and we are a co-founding member of the South African Fisheries Development Fund, a joint initiative with Brimstone, our majority shareholder, which is focused on empowering businesses in the small-scale fishing and allied sectors,” explains Ratheb.
In conclusion, the Group has a positive outlook for the remaining part of the reporting period of 2019.