South Africa: PPC recorded sales of US$618m in the 2020 financial year, which ended 31 March 2020, down by 2.4% year-on-year from US$634m in the 2019 financial year. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation fell by 17% to US$97.0m from US$118m.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Roland van Wijnen said, “The 2020 financial year was characterised by difficult trading conditions, especially in South Africa. The global Covid-19 pandemic, which emerged during the last month of the financial year, further exacerbated an already difficult trading cycle. While we have seen a decline in our financial performance, we also see that the actions we have taken to reposition PPC to deliver sustainable value for all our stakeholders are beginning to yield results.”

He added, “After the resumption of trading in the 2021 financial year, the performance across all of our core businesses has been encouraging. The group’s capital restructuring remains a key priority. Over the next nine months, we will take the strategic and operational actions needed to improve the group’s financial position and performance. It is encouraging to see how PPC employees have come together to drive performance to sustain our purpose to empower people to experience a better quality of life.”