SunRice has announced their net profit after tax fell by 31 per cent this year as the company grappled with a small domestic crop and challenging conditions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The company brought in revenue of $1.13 billion for the 2020 financial year, which was down five per cent on last year's result.
The ongoing drought, low water availability and high water prices contributed to SunRice receiving the second-smallest crop on record from the Riverina - around 45,000 tonnes.
CEO Rob Gordon said the company had strong results despite "the extraordinary year".
"Not only did we have the second-smallest Australian rice crop on record, we also faced deteriorating economic conditions in some of our international markets, the impact of successive natural disasters and, in the final two months of FY2020, COVID-19," Mr Gordon said.
"The fact we have been able to maintain profitability against such challenging headwinds and declare a fully franked dividend in line with guidance highlights the ongoing strength of our business model and balance sheet."
Mr Gordon highlighted progress on the company's 2022 growth strategy which had delivered value with new supply chains leading to new products and better production capability.
READ MORE
"Our international sourcing capability was rapidly flexed in response to the small Australian rice crop - with strategic expansion of our supply chains enabling us to backfill key markets and maintain continuity of supply," he said.
"To successfully meet global demand for our products of in excess of one million paddy tonnes of rice with only five per cent of this volume available from the CY19 Riverina harvest is a clear demonstration of our strategy in action.
"Other highlights of the execution of our 2022 Growth Strategy in FY2020 included the Lap Vo Mill in Vietnam achieving profitability in its first full year of operation, and the further diversification of our supply sources to include South America."
Expecting low volumes from the 2020 harvest led SunRice to restructure and slash hundreds of jobs from its processing mills in Leeton and Deniliquin.
However, Mr Gordon said there had been positives with the company investing in plant upgrades.
"We continue to invest in the Riverina, with new facilities completed or initiated in FY2020, including a new stabilised bran plant in Leeton, re-purposing of the Coleambally Mill into a CopRice ruminant plant, and upgrades to our Leeton Rice Food facilities," he said.
"The group absorbed restructuring costs related to the reconfiguration of our Riverina operations, and one-off costs related to COVID-19, both of which weighed against overall profitability."
SunRice declared a fully-franked dividend of 33 cents per share - the same value as last year for B Class shareholders.
SunRice shares closed a $5.40 on Thursday, up 22 cents from the market's open.