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ASTRAL FOODS LIMITED - General Trading Update

Release Date: 16/02/2015 15:00
Code(s): ARL     PDF:  
Wrap Text
General Trading Update

Astral Foods Limited
("Astral Foods")
Registration number: 1978/003194/06
JSE Code: ARL ISIN: ZAE000029757

General Trading Update

Shareholders are advised that based on trading conditions
experienced up to the end of January 2015, a reasonable degree
of certainty exists that an increase in headline earnings per
share for the six months ending 31 March 2015 will be at least
120% or 465 cents per share, compared to the same period in the
previous year (2014: 386 cents).

As anticipated and reflected in the prospects contained in the
results announcement on 17 November 2014, the improvement in
results for the first half of 2015 can be attributed to the
following factors:

  - Healthy global maize and soya crops which resulted in the
    softening of grain prices and subsequently benefitted feed
    prices and livestock production costs.

  - Expansion in feed volumes that now includes production of
    feed   from  the   recently  commissioned   state-of-the-art
    Standerton feed mill, previously supplied by Afgri.

  - Increase in poultry sales volumes, in particular the
    expansion in the Western Cape which now includes broilers
    previously processed by Tydstroom, now contracted from
    Quantum Foods.

  - Good poultry production efficiencies together with cutbacks
    in the comparative period not being repeated, have resulted
    in increased poultry sales volumes.

It is notable that Astral did not benefit from lower levels of
imports, especially bone-in portions from European Union
countries, as the temporary anti-dumping measures introduced by
the ITAC did not have the desired impact.

A further announcement will be released once a more definite
range of the increase in earnings can be given.

It is expected that the interim results for the six months to 31
March 2015 will be published on 18 May 2015.
The information on which the trading statement is based has not
been reviewed or reported on by Astral Foods’ auditors.

Pretoria
16 February 2015

Sponsor
JP Morgan Equities South Africa (Pty) Limited

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