Richmond beefs up profit

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON

Meat company Richmond has joined the growing list of firms benefiting from a record farming season, posting a full-year after tax profit of $11.65 million after last year's $852,000 loss.

Chairman Bob Croker said Richmond caught a tailwind from the good weather which helped stock suppliers, and from the export-favourable exchange rate.

But he said it bore the costs of integrating the Waitotara meat company, a new computer system, construction and commissioning of its FoodTech plant and tight liquidity from currency and market conditions.

Beef operations were strong in the first half of the year, but lamb showed the biggest improvement.

Chief executive John Loughlin said the trading environment would not always be as favourable as it had been in the past year.

"There is an onus on us and our value chain partners to work differently to sustain performance in the more difficult environment the future will inevitably bring."

Richmond has said that it will set up a wholly-owned company in Germany - Europe's largest single consumer market which has increasingly become a prized, high-paying destination for lamb.

"Targeting higher-value sectors of the market is vital to achieving improved returns in Germany, and it is our assessment that this can best be done by a dedicated team which is part of our group," Mr Loughlin said.

In the year to September, sales revenue for Richmond was up 26.6 per cent at $1.13 billion, and the operating surplus before tax was $21.6 million compared with $5.9 million last year.

Earnings per share rose to 28.6c from -2.7c last year. Richmond will pay a 6.25c per share dividend, fully imputed, on November 16.