Oceana, Africa’s largest black-owned fishing company, whose finance head Imraan Soomra (pictured) was recipient of the Transformation & Empowerment Award at the CFO Awards 2015, has seen impressive results for the year ending 30 September. Group revenue grew by 34% to R8.2bn, operating profit increased by 69% to R1.7bn, earnings per share was up by 34% and headline earnings per share was up by 20%.
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According to Oceana, the positive performance of its African operations, underpinned by the inclusion of the full 12 months trading effect of the Daybrook and Foodcorp acquisitions, were key drivers of growth.
Imraan Soomra, Group Financial Director Oceana Group Limited, said:
"Our strategy for this year was to focus on delivering growth through improved performance of our African operations and incremental earnings from our Daybrook acquisition. It has been pleasing to see the fruits of a well executed strategy, especially given the challenges many South African companies have faced in seeking to expand internationally."
Looking to the future, the company intends to diversify yet further, in both product offering and location. According to CEO Francois Kuttel, Oceana will continue to bed down the integration of its Daybrook acquisition while consolidating the business to pay down the debt. It also intends to expand the market for its Lucky Star products into Africa.
Soomra added:
"Looking ahead there are undoubtedly challenges to our consumers across the African continent but we will expect to see the benefit of increased diversification in geographies and products. Continued strong financial discipline and assertiveness in extracting efficiencies will be paramount to future growth and we will look to remain agile in the allocation of capital to expansionary opportunities."
