DURBAN – Zeder Investments, an investor in the broad agribusiness industry, with a specific focus on the food and beverage sectors, is posting a 158 percent increase in recurring headline earnings per share to 9.8 cents for the six months to end August, and credited this to favourable weather conditions.
Zeder has invested in companies like Pioneer Foods, Capespan, Zaad, Kaap Agri, Agrivision Africa and Quantum Foods.
Pioneer Foods remains its biggest investment, representing 49.1 percent of its portfolio.
Last year the group reported 3.8c in recurring headline earnings per share. It said that there was a strong recovery in earnings from most of its underlying investee companies compared to the previous period.
Chief executive Norman Celliers said yesterday that although the company was happy about the performance, it still had a long way to go as the results reflected only the first six months of the financial year.
“Zeder’s first-half earnings traditionally represent the lesser half of its annual earnings, as this period reflects the annual input-cost cycle associated with many of its agriculture investments as well as the softer half of the annual consumer sales and spending cycles associated with its other investments,” Celliers said.
However, he said the outlook for the full year remained positive.