Fresh produce company T&G Global full-year loss forecast swells over cyclone insurance ‘complexity’

T&G Global, formerly Turners & Growers, is a major apple producer.

Fresh produce company T&G Global is forecasting a FY23 loss before tax of between $60 million and $67m, about double that of its assessment after Cyclone Gabrielle’s damage a year ago.

In a statement to the NZX, the company, formerly Turners & Growers, said the new forecast for the 2023 financial year compared to the outlook provided to the market last May, which indicated a full year loss before tax of between $28m and $34m. It said the earlier forecast was based on an initial assessment of storm losses and the expected insurance recovery.

The company said the main reason for the change was the complexity of the insurance claim from the February 2023 cyclone damage, which caused delays in finalising the value of the insurance claim receivable at balance date.

The company expects to announce its FY23 results on February 29.

In May last year the company said Cyclone Gabrielle had severely affected the group’s Hawke’s Bay plantings.

Chief executive Gareth Edgecombe was reported as saying about a third of the group’s planted hectares were damaged by the cyclone - 13 per cent were severely damaged and another 22 per cent would be less productive over the next two to three years.

But most of T&G’s orchards were not impacted by the cyclone, Edgecombe said.

In February last year, the exporter reported a full-year FY22 loss of just under $1m, with revenue down 4 per cent. It reported quality issues with its Envy brand apples and easing overseas consumer demand.

In May last year Edgecombe said T&G’s New Zealand apple crop had been fully harvested, though overall supply volumes were down 19 per cent on 2022.

At that time he said the pricing outlook appeared strong, with 14 per cent of the crop sold but warned the cyclone would have a significant impact on the group’s FY23 financial performance.

The group had implemented a cost-reduction programme in response to the cyclone.

T&G Global is 73.9 per cent owned by Germany’s Bay Wa Global. Hong Kong-based Wo Yang Limited is the second-largest shareholder with 19.9 per cent.

The group has operations in 13 countries and partners with more than 1000 growers to market fresh produce in more than 60 countries.