KKiwifruit marketer Zespri is forecasting annual profit growth of up to 7 per cent.
The firm, which markets kiwifruit on behalf of 2,500 New Zealand growers and another 1,200 in Italy, Japan, Korea and France, is expecting net profit of $182-$192 million in the current year, including licence release income.
That is up from the $179.8m net profit reported for the year ended March, which was a 77 per cent increase from the year before as the firm shipped more fruit for better prices. Total trays sold climbed 21 per cent to 167.2 million last year – 85 per cent of which was New Zealand-grown green or gold kiwifruit.
Zespri shares trade on the Unlisted market. They changed hands at $8.20 yesterday, up about 42 per cent from a year earlier when adjusted for the firm's three-for-two stock split in March.
The latest earnings forecast comes despite a slight trimming of Zespri's expected New Zealand fruit and service payments.