Costa has released its prospectus forecast for the financial year ending 28 June 2015, with revenue, and cash flow exceeding its prospectus forecast.
Costa has reported a 2.7 per cent increase in pro forma revenue to A$723.5m in the year to 28 June 2015, driven by an increase in sales, according to its unaudited preliminary final report released on 25 August.
Costa’s net profit rose 34.2 per cent to A$4.6m compared to a net loss of A$1.89m the previous year.
The leading grower-packer-marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables in Australia saw strong performances in its key produce lines of berries, mushrooms, tomatoes and citrus.
Costa CEO Harry Debney said the company’s key investments focused on these four core categories in areas such as protected cropping, intellectual property and brand development.
“Today, Costa is Australia’s largest horticultural company, built on strong sustainable foundations with a robust portfolio of integrate farming, packing and marketing categories,” Debney said in a company statement. “Our selected fresh categories represent highly attractive products sought by consumers for flavour, convenience and perceived health benefits. This portfolio provides a platform for growth as well as ensuring a diverse spread of production and markets to mitigate agricultural risk.”
Debney added that the company expected to see further growth in the 2016 financial year, with its 10ha tomato glasshouse expected to produce its first harvest this October.
Costa’s expanding berry plantations have further positioned Costa as a year-round supplier of berries for the Australia domestic market, with the company also expanding its Moroccan blueberry plantations under its African Blue joint venture to 182ha in the 2015 financial year to grow its category share in Europe.
“The joint venture wit Driscoll in China growing blueberries and raspberries is also on target to expand our market reach into the fast growing Asian consumer markets,' Debney said.
