New Zealand's statutory kiwifruit exporter, Zespri, achieved a 19 per cent increase in global fruit sales revenue to $2.26 billion in the year ended March 31.
The Tauranga-based business posted a record annual net profit after tax of $73.7m, up 106 per cent from the previous year's $35.8m result, but the increase was "mainly due to revenue from the tender for licence for Zespri's proprietary variety SunGold last year", said chairman Peter McBride.
Total volumes of New Zealand-grown fruit rose 18 per cent to 137.7 million trays, while offshore production by Zespri-licensed growers rose 14 per cent to 16.6 million trays.
Payments to New Zealand growers per tray supplied fell 1 per cent to $9.46, although total payments were up 21 per cent at $1.39b because of the jump in supply. It intends to pay a 17c per share fully-imputed final dividend, taking dividends for the year to 25c.
