Comvita looks to sweet result

Comvita predicts a better honey season than last year should bring the company back to profitability.

Last year one of the poorest seasons for decades, combined with marketing problems in China and Australia, saw its after-tax profit fall to $9.8 million, compared with $18.5m in 2015-16.

Taking the $15.3m sale of the Medihoney brand to Derma Sciences into account, the healthproducts company made an aftertax operating loss of $5.5m.

But based on a normal harvest, chairman Neil Craig said this year’s after-tax profit should be greater than $17.1m.

‘‘Given our apiary profit comes into the second half of our financial year, we are very pleased with how our financial result for the full year is tracking.’’

Chief executive Scott Coulter said early estimates indicated an average harvest, echoing the sentiments of Apiculture NZ, which last week reported a better season, although patchy.

It would not be until April/ May, when beekeepers had completed extracting all the honey from their hives, that a full picture would emerge.

‘‘The Northland region and to a lesser degree, the upper-Waikato region harvest, was negatively impacted by the wet and cool September to November period and the recent severe storm ... This storm affected the manuka flower production at a critical part of the season in these regions.’’

‘‘We expect the central North Island region to deliver a honey yield of an average season. Providing the above-normal temperatures continue for the remainder of this summer, the Wairarapa, Whanganui, East Coast and Hawke’s Bay regions are expected to yield more honey than an average season,’’ he said.