Weather wreaks havoc with bottom lines
Weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle that hit over one year ago have landed two of the country's biggest fruit and vegetable traders with massive trading losses.
The listed company, majority-owned by German company BayWa, reported a slight drop in revenue for six months ending June 30, 2022: $645m down from $652m the previous year.
Operating profit reached $15m, a jump of 37%, and net profit was $5.7m, up from $3.4m. T&G’s Apples business reported a decrease in revenue to $401m, compared to $421m in 2021.
T&G chief executive Gareth Edgecombe says while it has been a tough start to the year, the company has improved its financial results and made solid progress in delivering its strategy.
“We’re operating in an increasingly volatile environment, with ongoing supply chain disruptions, growing inflationary pressure, rising costs, macroeconomic geopolitical events and Covid-19 continuing to affect some of our key markets,” says Edgecombe.
“This is against a backdrop of more frequent adverse weather events, as we saw with the heavy rain at the start of the Hawke’s Bay harvest which extended the harvesting window beyond the optimal period.
“This, together with disruptions in shipping schedules, led to some quality issues and the late arrival of fruit into several markets. This made it a challenging start to the year.”
Over the last four years, T&G has used $300 million through property and orchard sales to reinvest in growth, including a $100 million state-ofthe- art automated packhouse in Hawke’s Bay, with the first phase due to be operational for the 2023 apple season.
Edgecombe says the company continued to make progress on its future-proofed orchard optimisation and improvement plans, including the planting of premium Envy brand on automation-ready 2D structures.
T&G’s Aotearoa New Zealand domestic business, T&G Fresh, delivered strong results for the period however its financial performance was impacted by labour constraints and higher associated costs for the period.
“Our team did an outstanding job to ensure fruit and vegetables remained on shelves across Aotearoa New Zealand as COVID-19 spread extensively throughout the country,” says Edgecombe.
“This saw many of our office-based team stepping in to support their front-line teammates as people isolated and took care of themselves and their families.”
T&G chair and BayWa chief executive Benedikt Mangold says despite the complex and challenging environment, T&G has a bright future ahead.
“Over the last six months the team has put in a tremendous amount of effort to tackle the curveballs as they’ve arisen, while at the same time keeping each other safe and putting in place the foundations to deliver our long-term strategy,” says Mangold.
“Our strategy, together with our strong financial discipline, provides a clear pathway to deliver significant future growth and improved financial performance, and this will create a strong and sustainable business for the next generation.”
