Improved catch rates boost Sea Harvest’s earnings

Fishing group Sea Harvest expects to report higher earnings at the interim stage due to improved catch rates and higher prices.

The group, valued at about R2.7bn on the JSE, said on Thursday that its total basic headline earnings per share (EPS) and total basic EPS for the six months to end-June would be more than 20% higher than the previous year’s reported HEPS of 50c and EPS of 61c respectively.

“The expected increase in earnings is primarily attributable to improved catch rates, efficiency gains and sales price increases in the SA fishing business,” it said.

The group will report first-half earnings on September 2.

Business Day reported earlier this month that Sea Harvest’s abalone business remained under pressure due to the sluggish Chinese economy, with demand in its most critical export market muted.

While prices had been stable, the volume of abalone exported to China had fallen short of expectations, weighing heavily on the aquaculture division’s performance, CEO Felix Ratheb told Business Day.

China, along with Hong Kong, has long been Sea Harvest’s biggest market for abalone, a premium product regarded as a luxury item. However, economic uncertainty in the region, worsened by a slow post-Covid recovery and instability in the Chinese property sector, has led to subdued consumer sentiment and lower discretionary spending.

“China has not bounced back the way we expected,” Ratheb said, adding that the world’s second-largest economy was still under pressure and that affected the abalone category.

In its 2024 annual report, the group said abalone sales to the Far East had faced a series of headwinds since 2019, including geopolitical unrest, pandemic-related disruptions, and now broader economic softness. The group also noted the risk of increased competition from Australian farmed wild-caught prawns, which could further reduce market share and demand.

Sea Harvest is working to open new markets and build stronger relationships with food service players and retailers globally, particularly around the provenance and sustainability of its wild-caught Australian prawns.

With Nompilo Goba

MackenzieJ@arena.africa