Strongest Q1 Financial Performance for Blue Sky Meats in 10 years
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Blue Sky Meats’ first quarter of the financial year has delivered its best result in 10 years.
At the company’s AGM at Bill Richardson Transport World on August 2, CEO Todd Grave told attendees good stock flows, an extended operating season with optimal plant utilisation and improving margins produced a financial year 2019 Q1 net profit before tax result of $3.8 million.
“This is a fantastic result but as we said with the Annual Report, we’re not putting too much stock in the victory at this stage because we know we’ve still got a long road ahead,” Grave said.
As with last year’s AGM, attendees were treated to various cuts of lamb, processed by Blue Sky Meats and prepared by The Grille’s chef Mat Jackson.
Various long service awards were also presented to several staff members who have been with the company for more than 10 years.
Blue Sky Meats finished the 2018 financial year on a positive note with a net profit before tax of $3.7 million and total revenue coming to $105 million, resulting in a dividend of 5c per share being paid.
That revenue was a 7% increase on the previous year, driven by the company’s Strategic Plan and favourable market conditions.
Now, three months into the new financial year, good on-farm growth conditions have led to stock flows being up significantly on past years.
While schedule prices reached near record highs during this period, Blue Sky Meat’s marketing team continued to maximise carcass value in market.
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This combined with an extended operating season with optimal plant utilisation and improving margins has delivered a Q1 result of $3.8 million.
It’s a result that puts Blue Sky Meats $3 million ahead of the same period last year and is the company’s best Q1 performance in more than 10 years.
“Our focus throughout the new fiscal year will remain on implementing our Strategic Plan, delivering on profit targets and building resilience,” Grave said.
“We’re pleased to see the company moving in an upward trajectory, but we also know we’re prone to ups and downs like any company, so we’re working toward mitigating the effects of those down periods.”
To achieve this, the focus now turns to refreshing the Blue Sky Meats Strategic Plan – a profit gain plan that involves a series of projects to advance company performance in various areas of the business.
Two years into the three-year plan, the hard work has paid off significantly and the company is reaping the rewards of an improved financial position.
Chairman Scott O’Donnell said the management team had undertaken a review of the Strategic Plan and a refreshed plan was agreed upon for the next generation of ideas and projects to work on.
The refreshed Strategic Plan refines the company’s purpose and the strategic pillars which underpin it and envisions a future built around being a consumer-centric business, he said.
The key areas of focus for the refreshed Strategic Plan include:
- Reducing the company’s exposure to commodity price swings by increasing the portion of business being sold as branded, value-added product
- Improving health and safety performance
- Increasing staff training and development
“We’re well aware our goal of selling branded added-value products is going to be a big challenge and one that’s going to take time and investment before the rewards are reaped but it’s a challenge we’re happy to rise to,” O’Donnell said.