CHAMWE KAIRA
Oceana Group Limited, which is listed on the Namibia Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange, has said basic earnings per share (EPS) and basic headline earnings per share (HEPS) are not expected to differ by 20% or more from the financial results for the year ended 30 September 2023.
The group said it believes it is prudent to provide earnings guidance to shareholders, taking into consideration the non-recurring effect of the prior year profit on disposal of Commercial Cold Storage Logistics Group Limited (CCS) and the group’s strong first half performance.
Oceana said the profit on disposal of CCS directly translated to an increase in earnings per share of 314.4 cents in the comparative period.
“This profit had no impact on headline earnings per share in the previous year,” the group said.
Oceana advised shareholders that a reasonable degree of certainty exists that for the year ended 30 September 2024, EPS is expected to be between 896 cents and 946 cents, representing a decrease of between 14% and 18% compared to EPS of 1 094.1 cents reported for the comparative period, mainly due to the non-recurring effect of the prior year profit on disposal of CCS.
It added that HEPS is expected to be between 900 cents and 935 cents, representing an increase of between 15% and 19% compared to HEPS of 784.4 cents reported for the comparative period.
Oceana said it is finalising its financial results for the year ended 30 September 2024, which will be released on the Stock Exchange News Service (SENS) of the JSE Limited on or about Monday, 25 November 2024.
In the 2023 Integrated Report, Oceana said Namibian horse mackerel landings were favourable, and the business was able to take advantage of the strong pricing for the resource.
The company noted that the pilchard moratorium imposed on 1 January 2018 remains in place, with zero TAC announced by the government for the 2024 fishing season.
“Given the low TAC of pilchard in South Africa and Namibia’s longstanding moratorium on pilchard fishing, we procure most of the raw material we require for canning internationally as frozen fish,” the report said.
In 2023, the Namibian business delivered a strong performance, driven by record-high pricing, persistent consumer demand and good catch rates.
“The strong performance offset cost pressures associated with fuel and labour. A key area of focus for our Namibian business was promoting and enhancing its corporate governance practices,” Oceana said.