Interims from Oceana for the six months through March, and as tidy a set of numbers as you could hope for in times like these. Revenue was up +2% to R3.63bn, driven thither by its African operation, which grew revenue by +3%. Group wide, operating profit was up +9% to R605m, with African operations positively screeching home with an +18% increase to R514m, offset somewhat by a -23% decline to R91.4m in the operating profit of US-based fishmeal and oil specialist Daybrook Fisheries. Nevertheless, says CEO Imraan Soomra, “Our strategy of both customer and geographic diversification is paying dividends.” And indeed, the business Oceana sells fresh fish in Africa and Europe, pet food in the US, fishmeal in Europe, Africa and Asia, and canned fish in South Africa. Their strong exposure to consumers rather than to the hospitality and tourism industries has served them well in the lockdown, too.
Comment: Don’t take Mr Soonmra too literally on the issue of dividends though, he was merely employing it as a figure of speech. Oceana is prudently holding on to actual dividends until the storm has passed.