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RFG Holdings Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 2012/074392/06)
Share code: RFG
ISIN: ZAE000191979
('RFG' or 'the group')
TRADING UPDATE FOR THE 11 MONTHS ENDED AUGUST 2022
Revenue for the 11 months to August 2022 ('the period') increased by 21.2%
after the group reported growth of 20.9% in the first six months of the 2022
financial year. Revenue growth was driven by ongoing strong international
demand for the group's canned fruit and fruit puree products and a resilient
performance in the regional segment against the background of the deteriorating
consumer spending environment.
The group continues to experience significant inflationary pressures from higher
input costs caused by rising global commodity prices, particularly in tin cans,
meat and oils. Management has made good progress in protecting margins by
recovering the increased costs from customers and consumers, but it is still
proving challenging to fully recover cost increases in certain key product
categories.
The trading environment has been impacted by loadshedding and related water
supply disruptions in certain of the group's facilities in Gauteng. This resulted in
lower production output, higher manufacturing costs and lost sales. The group
will invest in renewable energy infrastructure to reduce the impact of
loadshedding and solar power installations are planned for three further
production facilities.
Regional segment
Revenue in the group's regional segment increased by 11.5% with volume
growth of 5.2% and price inflation and product mix changes of 6.3%.
Fresh foods revenue increased by 18.0% with the Today pie business, acquired
in February 2022, contributing 6.9% of the revenue growth. Price increases and
mix changes accounted for 10.9% of the revenue growth with volumes growing
marginally on the prior period.
Ready meals again reported good volume growth and continued to prove resilient
in the weak consumer spending environment. The pie category margin has
started to recover despite high levels of meat price inflation and competitor
promotional activity, although volume growth has slowed.
Long life foods turnover grew by 7.9%, with volume growth of 4.0%. The growth
was mainly driven by fruit juice, the largest long life category, and dry foods.
However, volumes remain under pressure from slower canned meat and
vegetable sales.
Long life foods sales into the rest of Africa again showed good growth of 16.4%,
supported by juice, canned meat and dry foods sales.
International segment
Strong demand for the group's canned fruit and fruit puree products contributed
to international turnover increasing by 66.2% as export volumes grew by 22.5%.
The high demand has been supported by the failure of last year's peach crop in
Greece, the world's largest exporter of canned peaches, while the group
continues to diversify its international sales and expand into new markets.
The international performance also profited from the weakening currency. The
Rand/US dollar exchange rate averaged R15.76 in the 11 months to August
2022, 8.3% higher than the average of R14.55 in the prior comparative period,
increasing revenue for the period by approximately R87 million or 9.2%.
Export growth has also benefited from the easing of congestion at the Cape
Town port, although global shipping and logistics challenges are still adversely
impacting sales and contributed to higher freight costs.
The financial information in this trading update is the responsibility of the
directors and has not been audited, reviewed or reported on by the group's
independent external auditors.
The group's annual financial results for the year to September 2022 will be
released on SENS on 23 November 2022.
Groot Drakenstein
13 September 2022
Sponsor
Rand Merchant Bank (A division of FirstRand Bank Limited)
Date: 13-09-2022 11:00:00
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