Sea Harvest Group has posted a stable set of interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2020 with a 7% increase in revenue to R2 billion and headline earnings of 61 cents per share, in line with the same period last year.
The group’s results were driven by consistent performances from its South African fishing segment, the Cape Harvest Food Group segment (which includes Ladismith Cheese) and its Australian operations but were offset by challenges in the aquaculture segment which has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Felix Ratheb, Sea Harvest Group chief executive Officer said that the pandemic meant that the group was operating below normal levels. “Lockdowns affected demand in our core markets of China, Italy and Spain, as early as January,” he said. “Unfortunately, Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on our aquaculture business that supplies abalone to the foodservice industry in Asia, particularly Hong Kong, compounded by the grounding of almost all air travel during the various lockdowns,” he added.
Sea Harvest began implementing Covid-19 protocols in early March. This included more than 15,000 screenings across all its sites, physical barriers to ensure adequate social distancing and an extensive contact-tracing prevention. To date, over R16m has been spent on preventative measures.
Thus far, the company has had a 100% recovery rate and delivered more than 10,000 food relief packages to benefit its staff and the communities it serves.
