The company has released its full financial results for the 2020-21 year, which showed a group revenue of $1.03 billion, which was down 9 per cent on the previous year.

The company's net profit after tax was $18.3 million, also down 19 per cent.

The last 12 months have been a period of big buy ups, with SunRice making investments of more than $60 million as a result of several acquisitions.

These were KJ&Co Brands for $50 million and Riverbank Stockfeeds for around $10 million.

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"In such a challenging year, when we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and the second consecutive year of near-record low rice production in the Riverina, the SunRice team has delivered a resilient set of results of which we can be proud," SunRice chief executive officer Rob Gordon said.

"With only 5 per cent of our rice requirements available from the Riverina, we knew the year would be challenging and planned accordingly.

"We sourced rice products from 12 countries to meet demand in about 50 markets and paid record rice prices at farm gate in the Riverina to maintain baseline production, retain core skills and replenish seed stocks for a larger crop in 2021.

"This co-ordinated effort led to a creditable net profit after tax of $18.3 million, which allowed us to pay a fully franked dividend in line with the prior year while maintaining the strength of our balance sheet."

The results were driven by a range of factors, including:

Looking ahead, the company was hopeful this year's harvest would help contribute to a better year.

"With the return of Australian rice to key markets and the benefits of strategic initiatives and acquisitions within the period, I am confident we will see an improvement in operating performance and earnings in (the next financial year)," Mr Gordon said.

"The scale of recovery will be, of course, dictated by the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 ..."

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