Kiwifruit volume rises as returns fall
KIWIFRUIT volumes are rocketing to record levels although returns per tray are forecast to fall from previous seasons.
Zespri chief executive Lain Jager said it was a classic case of supply and demand. Following the Psa outbreak, volumes had fallen and as a result, prices per tray had risen.
In the 2014-15 season, total Zespri sales were 118 million trays. The best season before then was 2011-12 when 113m were sold.
However forecast prices per tray have risen since May when the first forecasts were made.
Last season a tray of the Gold3 variety was worth $9.80, and the year before $12.90, but this season it is forecast to return a maximum of $7.90. The value of a green tray last season was $6.01; this season a tray of green is forecast to fetch $5.50.
Gold volumes are set to soar from 18.7m trays in 2014-15 to about 30m trays in 2015-16 and over 60m trays by 2019-20.
Zespri sales for 2014-15 were $1.57 billion, up 16 per cent on the year before, the company’s annual general meeting heard on Friday.
Export returns were up 18 per cent on the previous year at $1.086b.
Jager said the figures were presented to the Zespri annual meeting in Tauranga, attended by about 350 growers. In previous years more than 500 turned out.
‘‘It was a quieter meeting than usual; perhaps the reason for that was the fact the 2014 season was a strong one with very good yields this year, combining to create a positive sentiment in the industry,’’ Jager said.
There were no contested director elections, just ‘‘business as usual’’ resolutions, Jager said.
Zespri’s net profit after tax doubled from $17.2 million in 2013-14 to $34.6m in 2014-15.
This reflected an exceptional oneoff factor of $19.6m of unpaid revenue from new cultivar licences from previous years (before taxation and fair value adjustment). Excluding this figure, Zespri’s normalised profit would have been $21.5m.
Jager said the Serious Fraud Investigation into Zespri’s double invoicing problems was continuing, with legal costs to date of $4.9m, with a further $1.4m provisioned for in the 2014-15 accounts.
The issue resulted in the jailing of its then major importer Liu Xiongjie – known as ‘‘Big Liu’’ – and a multimillion-dollar fine and penalties for the company in China.
Zespri chairman Peter McBride said that following the referendum on the future of the industry in which 97 per cent of voters confirmed their support for the single seller approach, changes to legal and financial processes, particularly the share cap recommendations, were complex and would take some time.
‘‘We hope to be in a position to put these resolutions to you at the 2016 annual meeting or alternatively, we may schedule a special general meeting later in 2016,’’ McBride said.