It warned in April that profits would be "materially below" 2015. Silver Fern Farms' financial year runs to the end of September.
The Dunedin-based meat company had agreed to sell a controlling stake to China's Shanghai Maling Aquarius, but the deal is still being considered by the Overseas Investment Office. An earlier deadline of June 30 had passed, but a new deadline of September 30 was in place to secure OIO approval. Shareholders backed the sale by 82%, but a special shareholder meeting had been called for August 12 by sale opponents, although SFF management said its outcome was not binding and couldn’t undo the previous vote.
In its winter newsletter, chairman Rob Hewett and acting chief executive Dean Hamilton described the profit slump as "disappointing" and blamed "lower national volumes and lower margins (exacerbated recently by the NZ dollar strength)".
For the nine months to the end of June, beef processed was down 4% compared with the same period a year earlier, sheep was down 3% and venison fell 17%. Hewett and Hamilton also warned the decision by British voters to exit the European Union in a referendum last month "has had a meaningful negative impact on NZ returns, in particular for lamb" largely because of the vote's impact on the British pound and Euro currency.
