Health Problems to Affect Clean Seas Tuna Results
13 February 2012AUSTRALIA - Clean Seas Tuna anticipates that the Yellowtail Kingfish health difficulties currently being experienced will impact the results of the company for the full year.
Outlook
It is not possible to accurately forecast the extent of the impact at this time. Cash management remains crucial to the future of Clean Seas, and current projections indicate the Company has adequate funding for operations for CY2012.
First Half Results
Audited half year results will be reported on 22 February 2012 and a material
reduction, in the order of 40 to 50 per cent, is anticipated in the pre-tax loss for the period,
compared to the first half results in FY2011 ($13.3 million loss).
This materially improved result reflects the success of the Company’s ongoing
programme of reducing costs and improving operations in the face of economic hurdles,
such as the high exchange rate.
Shareholders should note that the best growing conditions for Yellowtail Kingfish in
Spencer Gulf occur in the second half of each financial year and that only limited
growth is achievable with the lower temperature regime experienced in the first half.
Tuna Spawnings & Juvenile Production
As reported on 9 January 2012, Clean Seas achieved early success with its previously
announced strategy of bringing forward spawning from the Company’s Southern
Bluefin Tuna (SBT) broodstock.
SBT broodstock spawned from early December 2011, which is significantly earlier than
the previous year. Overall results to date indicate that the Company is likely to at least
double the number of juveniles produced in last season’s trials. These juveniles will
either be transferred to sea cages or retained onshore in environmentally controlled
facilities for ongoing R&D grow-out trials.
The company reports that this summer’s trials have enabled our research and
development and production teams to make further significant progress in the
development of protocols to improve juvenile SBT survival in the early stages of life.
Yellowtail Kingfish Operations
The Company continues to improve its financial performance for this division as it
moves towards establishing this outstanding species for long term sustainable
production in Spencer Gulf, South Australia.
Despite record strength in the Australian Dollar, the Company continues to increase its
net farmgate price expressed in Australian Dollars and has now rebalanced
production/sales and demand now exceeds supply.
As part of the Company’s strategy to further consolidate its operations and improve
production costs and efficiencies, grow-out sites at Whyalla are being fallowed and fish
have been transferred to Arno Bay and Port Lincoln. Plans for further consolidation
and cost reductions are being advanced.
In addition to the challenges facing the Company as a consequence of the high
Australian Dollar, the company's Yellowtail Kingfish production (in particular with regard to
YC2012 juveniles) has been impacted over the summer by unusually bad weather
which in turn has resulted in health implications and a higher than anticipated rate of
mortalities.
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