Cyclone Gabrielle: Mr Apple owner Scales withdraws profit guidance after damage

The owner of Mr Apple, New Zealand’s largest apple grower, is withdrawing its 2023 underlying net profit guidance after Cyclone Gabrielle ripped through some of its orchards before most produce had been picked.

In a market update to the NZ stock exchange (NZX), Scales Corporation said the cyclone had affected four of its 15 orchards.

Three had extensive damage and one was moderately affected.

The company said it did not expect the cyclone to have a “material operating impact” on other business units, which it said had accounted for most of the group’s profits in recent years.

Horticulture revenue in 2021 for the group was $243 million, while group revenue was $514.6m.

”Further limited crop damage is also anticipated to the remaining orchards from the effects of the cyclonic event,” the company said in a statement.

“Scales does not hold crop insurance for this event.”

The company estimated 3% of the crop had been picked before Cyclone Gabrielle.

Scales said picking had started again with a “substantial proportion” of the crop still available, which would be harvested for export.

About 63 per cent of NZ’s apples are grown in the cyclone-hit Hawke’s Bay.