Earnings per share increased by 34 percent, while adjusted operating profit jumped 36 percent, to R949 million.
Pioneer Foods, one of South Africa’s largest producers and distributors of branded food and beverage products, including Weet-Bix, Liqui-Fruit, Ceres, and Sasko, today announced a turnover drop of three percent in half year earnings, from R10.2 billion to R9.9 billion, but an adjusted operating profit of R949 million – an increase of 36 percent. The company forecast “improvement in performance in the second half of the financial year”.
Pioneer said in a statement:
“The business achieved 70 percent operating profit growth through a strong maize performance, as well as pasta and rice profit expansion.”
In December 2017, Pioneer Foods acquired Good Carb Food Company, a UK-based breakfast cereal entity, and said the acquisition was in line with its international expansion. “This is a complementary bolt-on acquisition enlarging the Group's footprint in the UK's breakfast cereal market, and provides access to a strong branded proposition in this space,” it said.
Pictured: Tertius Carstens, Pioneer Foods CEO
