South African food group Pioneer Foods has seen its half-year profits tumble in the wake of anti-trust fines levelled against the company.
For the six months ended 31 March, Pioneer’s headline earnings dropped 51% to ZAR144m (US$18.3m). Operating profit declined by 22% to ZAR427m.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
In March, Pioneer made a provision for potential administrative penalties of ZAR350m for its participation in the alleged fixing of wheat milling prices.
Pioneer, which manufactures Weet-Bix cereal, was investigated by the South African Competition Commission, over the alleged fixing of prices and allocating customers.
Revenue fell 5% to ZAR8bn as a result of deflationary pressures on sales prices.
Group MD André Hanekom said the results were “satisfactory” given the “difficult trading conditions”.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“We focused on containing costs and improving efficiencies to stabilise our margin in an environment where selling prices mostly declined or remained constant,” Hanekom said.
