This festive season may see you spending more on chicken as the impact of the avian flu, load shedding and the water crisis causes the price of chicken products to soar.
Astral Foods said that it may cost South Africans around R2 more per kilogram to have poultry items in their festive season basket.
According to eNCA, Astral Foods said that producers like itself would need to increase costs in order to make a profit.
SA Poultry Association (Sapa) general manager Izaak Breitenbach said in late September that poultry shortages could go into the festive season.
“We forecast that we will see a shortage of chicken meat going into the festive season, and that will also put upward pressure on the prices of chicken,” Breitenbach told Moneyweb.
R2.1 BILLION LOSS
Earlier this week, the poultry producer said that a number of major issues had cost the company around R2.1 billion after their financial results were released.
The main reason for the loss was the impact of load shedding, water disruption, and bird flu costs, according to the company.
Astral Foods’s headline earnings per share fell by 148%.
Revenue for the integrated poultry producer remained stable at R19.3 billion for the year to September 30, but the impact of these costs knocked operating profit by 143% to a loss of R621 million. There was a net cash outflow of R1.1 billion; no dividend was declared.
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