CHAMWE KAIRA
The Oceana Group has said in results for the year ended 30 September that horse mackerel operating costs in Namibia increased by 18.3% due to the combination of lower catch rates, down 13.7%, increased fuel costs from the use of more expensive intermediate fuel oil and higher quota usage fees.
The total sales volumes of horse mackerel decreased by 14.6% to 38 711 tons in 2023, from 45 327 tons previously.
According to Oceana, there was a sustained firm consumer demand for horse mackerel, with average Rand prices slightly easing from the high level of the previous year.
The South African horse mackerel operations faced significant challenges with a major mechanical failure on the Desert Diamond vessel, resulting in a 66.5% decrease in sea days.
Catch rates declined by 49.5% during the operational periods, which added to the vessel’s poor performance, the company said.
“Consequently, horse mackerel sales volumes in South Africa were 85.1% lower and operating performance declined significantly,” Oceana said.
The group achieved solid annual results, with headline earnings per share increasing by 13.5%.
The growth was driven by record earnings from Daybrook in the United States, margin expansion at Lucky Star Foods, and a strong turnaround in the hake operations.
The group’s performance was negatively impacted by weaker results from the African fishmeal and fish oil business due to lower volumes and poor horse mackerel performance resulting from a major vessel breakdown and lower catch rates, the group said.
Oceana said revenue increased by 0.7% to N$10.1 billion (2023: N$10 billion), primarily due to strong fish oil sales prices together with improved hake and squid sales volumes.
“This revenue growth was offset by lower fishmeal sales volumes due to reduced catches in South Africa and the US as well as decreased horse mackerel sales volumes.”
Profit after tax increased by 12.5% toN$1.11 billion (2023: N$990 million).
In terms of Lucky Star Foods, strong second half demand resulted in total sales volumes of 9.3 million cartons, slightly below the previous year’s record of 9.6 million cartons.
African fishmeal and fish oil sales volumes declined by 11.5% to 21 319 tons (2023: 24 088 tons) due to lower opening inventory levels and reduced production volumes in the year.
“Raw material available for production declined due to the combined effect of a 10.6% reduction in pilchard trimmings from the cannery and 6.9% lower anchovy landings, which were affected by prolonged adverse winter weather conditions,” Oceana said.
Oceana said hake operations delivered a substantially better performance yet remained short of its optimal potential. Catch volumes increased 36.3% due to the combined effect of increased sea days and improved catch rates, it said.
