Inghams lifts profit, dividends but flags weaker second half
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The news: Poultry producer Inghams has delivered a sharp lift in first-half profit and dividends amid strong demand and price increases for its products.
The numbers: The company reported first-half profit of $63.4 million, up from $17.2 million a year ago. Revenue was up 8.7% to $1.64 billion. It will pay an interim dividend of 12 cents a share, up from 4.5 cents a year ago.
Inghams shares, which have run up nearly 25% since November, were down nearly 10% at $3.90 each in early trading on the ASX.
The context: Inghams, which is Australia and New Zealand’s largest poultry producer, flagged the lift in profits in late October. It attributed the improved earnings to strong demand for poultry as consumers trade down amid higher living costs, and has also benefited from improvements in wholesale pricing.
The group expects growth to slow down in the second half of fiscal 2024 because of inflationary headwinds across labour, feed, energy as well as seasonal trends.
What they said: “Our interim results reflect the benefit of the price increases that were applied during FY23 and early FY24 in response to a significant growth in costs, modest volume growth, improved margins and the continued improvement in operational performance in both farming and processing,” CEO Andrew Reeves said.
The source: ASX announcements
