Johannesburg – Tiger Brands on Friday reported a 23% drop in headline earnings per share for the year to September, while revenue edged up 4% to R29.8-billion in what it called a disappointing set of results.
The company however said in a year that had been catastrophic for many businesses in South Africa due to Covid-19, it had been in the fortunate position of playing a pivotal role in ensuring food supplies during the initial lockdown in response to the pandemic which grounded non-essential services.
This has allowed the company to support the livelihoods of its employees even when sites were temporarily closed in line with lockdown regulations. It also resulted in strong cash flow generation, further supporting Tiger Brands’ healthy balance sheet.
“Notwithstanding this, the results for the year have been disappointing, reflecting the challenges faced by the company in maintaining margins in what was an already difficult consumer environment before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Tiger Brands.
The second half of the year was affected by the closure of non-essential facilities in line with Covid-19 regulations, the cost of complying with consumer and customer protection pricing regulations as well as the cost of health and safety measures.
