Seeka, the biggest kiwifruit grower in Australasia, has lifted its annual operating earnings guidance after improved performance across most of its businesses.
In June, the company gave guidance for a 15 percent drop in operating profit to $6.6 million in calendar 2017 due to a significantly lower green Hayward kiwifruit crop across New Zealand, and affirmed this in its first-half results announcement in August. Today, it said its new expectation is that after-tax operating profit will be close to that achieved in 2016, and within a plus or minus 5 percent range of $7.8 million, the previous year's earnings.
"Seeka advises that its mechanisms to manage expenditure, along with improved operational performance across its avocados and kiwifruit businesses, and emerging business (The Delicious Nutritious Food Company), has led it to revise the operational forecast upwards," it said.
Still, the company warned it will take an impairment on the goodwill of its banana ripening and supply business between $1.75 million and $2.5 million, due to a major customer moving to its own direct supply of bananas.
"The company notes that there are other revaluation processes underway which may positively impact profit through the financial year end process," it said.
