Astral Foods, already suffering severe pressure due to weak consumer spending, would likely report an additional R20 million knock on its profits following a cyber attack just over a week ago.
The integrated poultry producer said in a trading statement Monday that disaster recovery protocols and preparedness plans were implemented after the cyber attack on March 16, but the poultry division was negatively impacted by downtime in processing and deliveries to customers, which resulted in a loss of revenue and a backlog in production.
As of Monday, the group expected that earnings per share (EPS) and headline earnings per share (HEPS) would likely decrease by more than 50% and 60%, respectively, being EPS of 415 cents and HEPS of 354 cents. The share price fell 4.16% to R154.79 on Monday on the JSE.
“At the date of this announcement, all businesses are operating normally. Following the recovery of our systems, Astral can confirm no confidential information or sensitive data of customers, suppliers, or individual stakeholders was compromised as a result of the cyber attack,” Astral directors said.
During its November 2024 year-end results presentation, Astral indicated that selling price deflation on chicken would continue to place severe pressure on broiler net margins.
For the six months to March 31, selling prices had remained under pressure due to the continuing constrained consumer environment, and retail promotional activity, directors said.
This, along with an increase in poultry feed import costs following the drought of 2024 and higher local maize prices, meant earnings for the first half of 2025 would be lower than the strong set of results that were reported for the period ended March 31, 2024.
The balance sheet, however, remained strong, with healthy cash generation, which had resulted in the group maintaining a net cash position in the first half compared with a net debt position in the first half of 2024. A further trading statement was anticipated to be released in April this year.
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