Chamwe Kaira
Oceana Group says stronger pricing, improved sales and fuel hedging gains in Namibia helped boost the performance of its wild-caught seafood business during the six months ended 31 March 2026, despite lower horse mackerel landings.
The company reported that Namibian horse mackerel landings declined by 16% to 16 649 tonnes from 19 746 tonnes recorded during the same period last year.
Oceana attributed the decline to lower catch rates and the absence of the Desert Diamond vessel, which operated in Namibian waters during the comparative period.
Despite the lower volumes, Oceana said performance in Namibia improved because operating costs declined due to lower fuel prices and reduced quota usage fees.
The group also recorded a fuel hedging gain of N$25 million, although N$19 million of that amount remains unrealised.
Higher average sales prices and strong demand further supported earnings. Oceana said average rand sales prices increased by 19% during the period.
The company warned that planned vessel surveys scheduled for the second half of the financial year could reduce fishing days at sea for two Namibian horse mackerel vessels and affect future performance.
Oceana further reported improved earnings from its 44.9% shareholding in Etosha Fisheries. Associate income rose to a profit of N$9 million compared to a loss of N$9 million recorded in the previous period.
The improvement was supported by stronger pilchard resources in Namibia and higher production activity.
Overall, Oceana’s wild-caught seafood segment more than doubled operating profit to N$204 million from N$74 million previously. Revenue for the division increased by 19.1% to N$1.02 billion.
At a group level, Oceana’s revenue declined by 6% to N$4.88 billion, while operating profit slipped by 1.6% to N$665 million. Profit after tax increased by 5% to N$422 million due to lower finance costs and cost containment measures.
The Lucky Star foods division recorded revenue growth of 4.4% to N$2.7 billion. Oceana said stable canned fish sales and strong demand for canned meat products supported the performance.
The company added that higher pilchard landings in both South Africa and Namibia helped offset lower canning production volumes linked to constrained global frozen fish supply.
Meanwhile, Oceana’s fishmeal and fish oil operations in Africa recorded a larger operating loss after industrial fish landings declined sharply. The company blamed weaker red-eye herring catches and the absence of an initial anchovy total allowable catch allocation during the period.
Looking ahead, Oceana said the outlook for pilchard biomass in Namibia and South Africa remains encouraging and could help ease supply pressure for Lucky Star products during the second half of the financial year.
The company declared an unchanged interim dividend of 110 cents per share.
