Food counters to nibble on
The large food companies have had a torrid time, but there’s potential in the mid-cap sector, writes Anthony Clark
The past year has been an eventful one for J357 — the JSE food producers index.The largest sector deal yet occurred with PepsiCo making a R25bn offer for Pioneer Foods, SA’s second-largest food company. A consortium led by an Israeli-based company also acquired dairy business Clover Industries for R4.8bn. So two well-known sector stocks have delisted from the shrinking JSE.There was also a costly scandal at Enterprise Foods — involving mainly processed meat products. The development wiped billions of rands off the market value of blue-chip food group Tiger Brands. The after-effects of the deadly listeriosis outbreak still weigh on Tiger’s reputation and earnings profile.Even AVI, a stock with legendary brands that have strong pricing power and market share, took a hit, with headline earnings growth falling into negative territory.Year to date AVI shares have declined 16.7% and Tiger Brands 18.8%. These blue-chip stock performances are in stark contracts to better performances from t...
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