Fuel hedging and fleet upgrades helped support Oceana Groups wild-caught seafood business as lower global fish oil and fishmeal prices, weaker squid catches and rising fuel and freight costs weighed on the trading period.
In its recently released interim results, the company said gross profit margin had improved by 30 basis points to 28.1, from 27.8 in the previous reporting period, leading to operating profit of R665 million.
The company said it had reduced operating costs by 6.1, which includes a fuel-hedging gain of R43 million, of which R33 million was unrealised.
