Durban - The share price of Astral Foods, the broiler and animal feed company, rose to a fresh 12-month high of R25.10 yesterday on news that its earnings would rise more than 30 percent for the year to September.
But it slipped back at the close to end at R25, up 50c from the previous day. The counter has risen almost 90 percent since November 8 last year, when it was trading at R13.20.
Astral yesterday issued a statement saying its results were expected to beat management's expectations and headline earnings were expected to be substantially higher than the headline earnings reported previously.
In terms of JSE Securities Exchange rules, "substantially higher" refers to a change of 30 percent or more.
The company would not comment further as it is in a closed period ahead of the results announcement in November.
Shareholders were advised to exercise caution when dealing in the company's stock as the results had not yet been signed off by the auditors.
In May Astral reported a 37 percent rise in attributable profit to R103.4 million for the six months to March.
In the previous financial year the group's earnings rose 20 percent to R140 million.
The expectations for substantially higher earnings for the year to September 2003 come despite the stronger rand, which would have made chicken imports from Brazil attractive, and a traditional drop in demand for chicken in winter.
These factors may have been offset by a general increase in consumer spending following the interest rate cuts.
In the first half, Astral's chicken business improved significantly, with the broiler division contributing 54 percent, or R1.097 billion, to group revenue of R2.066 billion.
This was as a result of the consolidation of National Chicks, which was bought in April last year, and the processing of an additional 134 000 birds a week.