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Blue Sky Meats has announced an after tax loss of $3.8m for the year ending March 31, 2013.
This compares to a loss of about $449,000 in 2012 and a profit of $3.6m for the previous year.
Chairman Graham Cooney says in his annual report that this is the second loss in the company's 27-year history and he hopes the conditions in that period will never be repeated in the New Zealand meat industry.
In that period international market prices for almost all items the company sells reduced at an alarming rate. Some items had not significant market for considerable periods of time. EU challenges and the Northern Hemisphere recession lead to reduced demand and major uncertainty.
In New Zealand animals continued to be processed and the products from these animals, while sitting in store, lost value at alarming rates. The prices paid to farmers reduced over the 2012 calendar year but that reduction was at a much slower rate than the market price reduction.
The overall effect also increased the company's costs, including interest and storage, which was 34.7% higher in June 2012 than in June 2011. Currency movements added to the difficulties.
There were some positives. A strong balance sheet, purposely planned over the many years to cover events such as this, has got the company through a disastrous year. Past investment in the Chinese market paid dividends, with that country now the largest country of destination for both volume and value.
Most importantly the last three months of the financial year recorded profitability similar to historical levels for that time of the year.
No dividend will be paid this year.
Well known European brands Sulky, Sky and Prolog have been brought together under a single brand called Sky Agriculture, ditching their blue, green and red colour schemes for a new graphite grey and titanium white corporate look.
WESTLAND HAD a record revenue for the 2013-14 of $830 million, up 46% on the previous year, but admits its payout was not as industry competitive as previous years.
RECORD DAIRY prices contributed to Landcorp's net operating profit of $30 million for the year ending June 30, 2014, up from $13 million from the previous year.
FARMER DEMAND for innovations which deliver efficiency and prosperity on-farm resulted in their cooperative, LIC, returning a strong performance for the six months to November 2013.
Dairy farmer cooperative, LIC, has recorded strong performance in the first six months of the financial year, with growth in farmer demand for products and services which have a direct impact on income generating production.
Meat processor Alliance Group's cash-strapped farmer shareholders face a dilemma - either pour more money into the co-operative or risk losing 100% ownership and control.
Farmer-led charity, Meat the Need is calling for donations to enable it to supply more meals to families in need.
Weaker pricing and demand from China continue to impact New Zealand red meat export earnings.
Fonterra has cemented its position as the country’s number one cheesemaker by picking up nine NZ Champion of Cheese trophies this year.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
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