February 04, 2014
Sealord in rebuild mode
Sealord Group is looking to Australia and Asia as it seeks to rebuild the business after a disastrous foray into South America.
Holding company Kura last week reported a $36 million loss for the year to September 30, driven in a large part by a $44 million loss associated with selling its Argentinian subsidiary Yuken.
That meant a substantial cut in the dividend paid to pan-Maori company Aotearoa Fisheries, which owns half the shares.
Sealord chair Matanuku Mahuika says the final cost of quitting Yuken was higher than anticipated, but the decision stemmed further operating losses.
He says with a tough trading environment in the primary sector because of the high New Zealand dollar, the company needs to focus on growth markets.
"A lot of the traditional markets in North America and Europe are mature markets. Our ability to extract significant value increases from the product we are selling into there are perhaps not that great. Whereas growing economies in Asia, first of all closer but secondly may provide us with some additional market opportunities that we should look at. " he says
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