The result is split in two, with Silver Fern Farms (SFF) Ltd, the processing arm owned by the SFF Co-operative and Shanghai Maling Aquarius, reporting a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $65.4 million compared to $70.7m last year.
SFF Co-op reported a NPAT of $32.4m ($35.1m in 2019).
Revenue earned by SFF Ltd was down slightly at $2.5 billion ($2.6b in 2019), while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) improved to $125.7m (124.3m).
The entity will pay a fully imputed dividend of $26.2m ($26.5m) and increase capital expenditure in the current year by $20m to $52.5m.
SFF Ltd chief executive Simon Limmer says due to covid-19, the company has never gone for so long without meeting face to face with customers and stakeholders.
“Despite all that disruption, we have witnessed character and resilience throughout our Silver Fern Farms community, from on-farm right through to our partners in the market,
Limmer said.
“The way we worked as a team, continuously finding solutions and looking out for each other was key to our performance in 2020.”
Limmer says the company grabbed and fulfilled opportunities that presented themselves, which helped deliver a fourth successive year of profits.
“This is the level of financial performance required to provide an appropriate return on investment to our shareholders and enable us to continue investing in infrastructure, systems and the capabilities necessary to execute our market-focused strategy,” he said.
SFF Co-op chair Richard Young described the performance of the operating company as “truly commendable across a range of areas.”
“Most important was how they put the health and welfare of their people first.
“In doing so they set a platform of trust and shared commitment from their staff to stand up as essential workers to service our regional communities, and to service our global consumers.”
Young says the co-operative is free of debt, has $22.3m cash on hand and shareholder equity of $327.4m.
“This is important to us as we continue to face an environment of global uncertainty,” he said.
The co-operative will distribute $8.1m in dividends and patronage rewards in what will be the fourth consecutive year of distributions.
Eligible shareholders as at April 16 will receive a 100% imputed dividend of 5.5c/share.
A 100% imputed patronage reward of 5.7c/share will be paid on qualifying shares to supplying shareholders based on supply during 2020 as measured on December 31.
The payment date for both distributions is April 28.
