Leading New Zealand post-harvest operator Seeka Kiwifruit Industries has announced its overall debt has increased over the first half of 2014.
In a release posted on the company’s website, Seeka said its total debt had climbed to NZ$32.3m (US$27.1m) as of 30 June 2014, up on NZ$23.6m (US$19.8m) at 30 June 2013, and NZ$20.6m (US$17.3m) at 31 December 2013.
Seeka outlined the most current debt levels were calculated after its purchase of retail service business Glassfields in April. The NZ$5.4m (NZ$4.5m) purchase price was partially offset by Seeka’s NZ$3.1m (US$2.6m) sale of its shareholding in kiwifruit cold storage specialist OPAC.
In more positive news for the company, operating revenue totalled NZ$79.2m (US$66.6m), up 18.3 per cent from the previous corresponding period and comparable to same period two years ago.
Seeka’s market share for packaging of the green Hayward variety grew to an estimated 24.8 per cent over the opening half of the year, however, the firm’s share of the Zespri SunGold market slipped to 10.6 per cent.
“Many gold orchards are still to reach commercial fruit volumes,” Seeka explained in the statement. “Our gold market share is expected to rebound when re-grafted SunGold orchards reach commercial volumes in 2015. Detailed planning is underway to ensure Seeka has the capacity and infrastructure to meet processing demand and perform well for Hayward and other variety growers next year.”
