Seafresh fishes for its fortune

Seafresh would need to "catch more fish" to turn around its fortunes, shareholders were told this week.

The company posted a $6.8 million loss for the year to September last year, after a $2.8 million loss the previous year. Its share price is trading around 2c, compared to 30c when it listed in 1996.

During the annual meeting in Petone, about 20 shareholders were told this year's catch would be much improved. They supported the company's contention that it would need to work harder to break even this year.

Seafresh is negotiating with Harts Contributory Mortgages over a defaulted $1.35 million loan which it had planned to repay by selling its Lower Hutt processing factory. The factory is valued at around $2 million, but tenders were too low, said managing director Heng Lim.

The Lim family own 56 per cent of Seafresh.