We are committed to ensuring robust performance(Livestock boss)

Livestock Feeds Plc has said that it will maximize every available opportunity in its operation to ensure the achievement of a robust performance in the current financial year.
Chairman Board of Directors of the Company, Mr. Larry Ettah, who disclosed this while addressing shareholders of the company at the Annual General Meeting, AGM in Lagos, said that that they would strive to consolidate on 2012 performance work notwithstanding the challenges especially of high cost and shortage of some of the major input material currently facing the industry.
According to him, “Despite the various challenges that are facing the industry, which was compounded by the flooding of the growing belt of the nation, your board and management team is working hard to overcome these emergent challenges.”
“We will also optimise the synergy with our sister company in the UAC Group, Grand Cereals Limited, especially in  technical and raw material procurement to realise this objective,” Ettah said.
Additionally, he asserted that the poultry industry growth that was estimated at about 20 percent in 2012 over 2011 was largely propelled by the growing expansion of many medium to large scale farmers, who were beneficiaries of the Central Bank’s Commercial Agricultural Scheme.
In addition he said, “The continued expansion of the scheme considerably neutralised the effects of the disappearance of many small scale farms during the year, he explained.
Speaking on the company’s integration into UACN, he maintained that plans and investments in rebuilding, renovating and making improvements in infrastructure and other critical areas have already commenced, adding that it was necessary to stabilise and improve the company’s operation to guarantee a sustainable future that will ensure better returns to the company’s shareholders.
“We have just concluded plans for the installation of a brand new 12 metric tons per hour feed mill at our Ikeja factory later this year, he added”
“Other areas of quick wins and optimisation of synergies are being explored, especially in inventory acquisition, cost efficiencies, engineering and product quality stability, which are critical to the company’s operations that will lead to improvement of its competitiveness,” said Ettah.
The company recorded an improved turnover of N5.43 billion, a 50 percent growth compared to N3.62 billion in the previous year, while its profit before tax rose by about 42 percent over 2011 to N216.2 million.
Its profit after tax was N139.1 million, while earnings per share improved by 42 percent at 11.59 kobo, when compared with 8.16 kobo in 2011.
The increased insecurity in the northern part of the country in 2012, which is generally recognised as the major source of grains as well as key in poultry eggs consumption, and distribution, along with the weakening of consumer purchasing power in the face of increased poultry production invariably resulted in egg glut across the country.