Fishing giant Oceana, which has food brands conglomerate Tiger Brands as an anchor shareholder, is still on the lookout for acquisitions to further diversify operations despite a tightening of purse strings. On Friday, the perennially profitable Oceana surprised investors by skipping the final dividend payout in the wake of a 50% plunge in taxed profit to R479m in the financial year to end-September. CEO Francois Kuttel said the weaker profit performance relative to the level of gearing in the company prompted a decision to conserve cash by forgoing the final dividend payment. He emphasised that Oceana aimed to resume dividends in the 2018 financial year.Oceana’s cash generated from operations increased to R1.7bn (2016: R1.6bn) – thanks to a R656m improvement in working capital utilisation offsetting lower operating profit. At the end of September, the company had cash balances of more than R1.2bn, with a chunky R749m held in dollar-denominated accounts. Oceana’s balance sheet showe...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.