December 12, 2014
Fishy dividend reminder of one that got away
Aotearoa Fisheries has announced a return to profit with a dividend of more than $8 million to be shared among its iwi shareholders, but some in the Maori fishing sector are still ruing the one that got away.
The pan-Maori company’s $21.9 million consolidated profit for the year ended 30 September was boosted by a $12.7 million contribution from Sealord Group, which it owns half of.
But that could have been even higher if it still owned the 35 percent stake in European distributor Nordic Seafoods which it sold to its Japanese partner Nissui in 2010.
Since then the Denmark-based company has gone from strength to strength, and this year contributed $14 million to Nissui’s bottom line.
Sealord chair Matanuku Mahuika said Sealord’s priority must be getting its core deep water hoki business right.
"You can be in too many places trying to do too many things at once and what that does is it distracts you from your core. And it means you are not always getting that core part of your business absolutely right," he says.
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