Turners & Growers (T&G) has announced an after-tax loss after non-controlling assets of NZ$15.3m (€9.6m, US$12.6m) for the year ended 31 December 2012, a 23 per cent improvement on the previous 12 months.
The New Zealand-based group, which has German company Baywa as its majority shareholder, said that it wrote down assets throughout the year which negatively impacted on the T&G's profit and loss statement by NZ$29m before tax.
A statement on the New Zealand Exchange signed by Baywa chairman Klaus Josef Lutz revealed that export trading for the year was described as 'robust' by the company, despite profit for the segment dropping to NZ$2.9m from NZ$7.6m in 2011.
T&G's topfruit export result improved despite lower volumes, as higher export quality yield and a shift to a greater number of high-quality varieties boosted revenues, while Enza added to the positive balance sheet by 'achieving further efficiency enhancements and capacity utilisation in its coolstores and packing facilities'.
Enza 'significantly increased' grower returns on the major apple varieties in 2012, while also growing its commission income from offshore plantings, while T&G revealed that its Delica operation performed above expectations with a contribution up 24 per cent year-on-year.
Domestically, the company turned in a 'disappointing result' with a profit of NZ$1.5m, down from NZ$5m last year, the result of an oversupply of imported produce in New Zealand. T&G's processing operation EnzaFoods made a profit of NZ$3.3m, up on NZ$2.7m in 2011.
Growing operations, meanwhile, reported a NZ$22.8m loss for the 12-month period, with Kerifresh putting out a lower set of results due to a large asset write-down for orchard land and biological assets on the lemon crop.
Early trading for 2013 is said to be slightly above budget, while the group expects the 2013 kiwifruit crop to be up on volume with a new collaborative approach between T&G and Zespri expected to deliver positive results.
