Australian food firm Buderim Ginger insisted today (31 October) that it was “confident” of achieving annual pre-tax profits of over A$3m (US$2m) despite the downturn in consumer spending.
Speaking at an extraordinary general meeting today (31 October), Buderim chairman John Ruscoe said the company was maintaining its previous guidance on profits for the year, which would see earnings leap by 200% on 2007.
Ruscoe said the fall of the Australian dollar would help its export business and boost domestic tourism.
However, he admitted that reduced consumer spending would hit some parts of the business. “We are already seeing effects particularly in the UK and in demand for premium pastry products domestically,” Ruscoe said.
Buderim’s EGM was held for shareholders to vote on raising further equity for the business. Investors approved plans to raise A$2.7m through the issue of over 5.9m shares at A$0.45 each.

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By GlobalDataRuscoe said the share offer and raising of extra capital was necessary to support Buderim’s recent acquisitions, including Hawaii-based macadamia processor MacFarms.
“Although the present volatility makes forecasting in the short term extremely difficult, we believe that the broadening of our business base makes us both a larger and more resilient company and positions us for future profitable growth,” Ruscoe said.