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PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Reports to stakeholders
continued
26
Tiger Brands Limited Integrated Annual Report
2014
Chairman’s letter to stakeholders
continued
A strategic decision was taken to relocate the
stand-alone Crosse & Blackwell Mayonnaise
manufacturing plant in Cape Town to the
Groceries facility in Gauteng, thereby sharing
utilities, as well as being closer to its major
markets and the source of its raw materials.
The new plant was successfully commissioned
towards the end of the 2014 financial year.
Our established businesses in the rest of Africa
all performed well. As reported earlier, recently
acquired DFM in Nigeria continued to make
losses, albeit at a reduced rate. Our businesses
in the developing economies of Kenya,
Cameroon, Ethiopia and Nigeria offer profit
growth potential in excess of South Africa,
and we are committed to developing these
businesses towards reaching their full potential.
A particularly strong performance was
achieved by the Exports division which is
reflective of the increasing acceptance of our
branded products throughout Africa. The further
growth and development of our Davita business
significantly enhanced the profitability of our
export offerings.
Corporate social investment
It is true that South Africa possesses a large
number of marginalised citizens who are in
need of social and economic upliftment, and
also that one can never do enough. However,
We remain positive with regard to the
prospects of both Nigeria and DFM, and are
cautiously optimistic that all our Nigerian
businesses are now well positioned to take
advantage of the substantial growth potential
offered by this large and vibrant market.
Results
Despite the tough trading conditions in
South Africa alluded to earlier, the company
achieved a pleasing performance by improving
headline earnings from continuing operations
to 1 804 cents per share for the year ended
30 September 2014, an increase of 15%
over the previous year.
This pleasing performance has been achieved
by focusing on top-line growth and market
share retention in our core South African
businesses. A combination of successful
management of the price-value relationship
of our branded product offerings, assisted by
increased marketing support and related brand
building initiatives contributed to these pleasing
results. A keen focus on improved operating
efficiencies and cost reductions further assisted
the financial performance.
In South Africa, the Grains division performed
strongly, while the recovery in the performance
of the Groceries business was particularly
pleasing following last year’s disappointment.