Astral, South Africa’s largest poultry producer, is anticipating a stunning start to its 2026 financial year.
The company expects headline earnings per share for the first half of the year to increase by between 450% and 470% compared to the same period last year, it said in a trading statement.
The first half of the 2025 financial year was a relatively poor one for Astral. For the six months to end March 2025, the company reported lower profits and negative margins for broiler sales, due to high feed costs and lower selling prices for its chicken products. There was a substantial improvement in the second half of the year.
That improvement has continued, so that the picture for the six months to March 2026 is very different. The company said in March that it was expecting “robust results” for the first half year, due to strong demand for poultry products, improved selling prices and lower feed costs.
It followed this with an even more optimistic prediction in its final trading statement ahead of the interim results presentation. Full details will be given when the results are announced on 18 May.
