Photo: Beef and Lamb NZ
Tight margins in a challenging second half of 2024 have hit the pockets of major red meat processor and exporter ANZCO Foods, but it made a profit nonetheless.
The Christchurch-headquartered company with seven processing and three manufacturing sites across Aotearoa recorded a net profit of $8.4 million in the year to December, down from the $44.4m after-tax profit last year.
Chief executive Peter Conley said it was another challenging year for farmers and the red meat sector.
"Lower market returns, especially during the main processing season squeezed margins and impacted business performance," he said.
"Global market pricing for beef and lamb improved in the second half of the year with increased consumer demand in key markets including North Asia, USA, Canada, UK and Europe."
He said China was the most challenging market last year.
"China has seen slower economic activity, and this reduced demand impacted beef and sheep meat returns," he said.
Conley said its sites were fully staffed through the year, which helped drive higher revenue "through additional product recoveries".
Looking to 2025, he said there were continued strengths in key markets like North America particularly for beef, and the United Kingdom and European Union for sheepmeat, but China remained sluggish.
"The 2025 year has started positively but with new uncertainty as geopolitical tensions and tariff implications are yet to be fully understood," he said.
"However, the underlying outlook for beef and lamb is positive with improving economic conditions driving increased demand amid global supply constraints."
In relation to its United States business, Conley said it had been able to maintain pricing and pass on the costs to the American end of the chain, as it continued to benefit from the region's insatiable hunger for beef.
ANZCO Foods was one of the country's largest exports with an annual turnover of $1.85 billion and nearly 3000 employees globally.
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