ASTRAL FOODS LIMITED - Trading Statement

Trading Statement

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


Trading Statement


Shareholders are advised that based on the year to date results
to the end of February 2016 and expected results for the month
of March 2016, a reasonable degree of certainty exists that
Astral Foods’ headline earnings per share for the six months
ending 31 March 2016 will reflect a decrease of between 20% (200
cents per share) and 30% (300 cents per share) compared to the
previous comparable period.   This implies that headline
earnings per share is expected to be between 801 cents per share
and 701 cents per share. The headline earnings per share for
March 2015 was 1 001 cents per share.

Earnings per share for the six months ending 31 March 2016 will
also reflect a decrease of between 20% (200 cents per share) and
30% (300 cents per share) compared to the previous comparable
period.   This implies that earnings per share is expected to be
between 799 and 699 cents per share.     The earnings per share
for March 2015 was 999 cents per share.

The results for the six months ending March 2016 are negatively
impacted by:

  -   Increased feed costs following the impact of the drought on
      the maize harvest and hence record high SAFEX maize prices;
  -   The reduced 2016 maize harvest forced imports of maize
      which aggravated costs as a result of the weakening of the
      South African Rand exchange rate against the United States
      Dollar;
  -   Consumer discretionary income being under pressure and
      thereby negatively impacted demand for poultry products;
      and
  -   Continuous high import of poultry products which together
      with local poultry production contributed to high poultry
      stock levels resulting in extensive promotional activity on
      poultry products in the market.

The information on which the trading statement is based has not
been reviewed and reported on by Astral Foods’ auditors.
It is expected that the results for the six months ending 31
March 2016 will be published on SENS on 16 May 2016.

Pretoria
14 March 2016

Sponsor
JP Morgan Equities South Africa (Pty) Limited

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