Bid Corporation said yesterday it continued to achieve record trading levels in the four months to April 2023 against the backdrop of the northern hemisphere winter and a few natural disasters which temporarily impacted some operations in various parts of the world.
“Our business is performing very well, delivering a record result to date. However we are starting to cycle through an extremely strong comparative base, hence the rate of growth achieved to date will normalise,“ CEO Bernard Berson said in a trading update yesterday.
“Despite the many challenges that face us, our teams around the world are positive and enthusiastic about the pipeline of future opportunities in each of our markets,” he said
The food services group said its trading results in Australasia had continued a strong positive trajectory in the third quarter of its 2023 financial year, with both Australia and New Zealand delivering “excellent results”.
The UK business continued to grow organically with several new contracts being activated as well as benefiting from recently completed acquisitions.
The European businesses continued to grow through the northern hemisphere winter and, overall, “their performance has been very strong”.
The Emerging Markets segment experienced some challenges in their respective markets, driven by supply chain disruptions and volatile exchange rates, which had muted overall performance.
Angliss Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Macau) had improved its comparative profitability. However, the anticipated post-Covid bounce had not materialised to the same degree previously experienced in other parts of the world.
Trading conditions in South Africa remained difficult.
Berson said in the third quarter high inflation had started to moderate, but the food component remained sticky in most parts of the world. Labour costs remained elevated as the demand for skills was competitive in most operating jurisdictions, although the scarcity of labour was abating slightly.
Energy and fuel costs, both of which were not a material component of the cost base, were declining. Supply chain disruptions and product shortages remained day-to-day operational challenges, although easing overall.
Customer demand had remained robust.
“Our multi-year strategy to rebalance the customer portfolio' towards more appropriate business continues,” he said.
The independent customer base remained resilient, margins were being maintained, albeit the credit risk in a few jurisdictions was being closely monitored.
Operating costs as a percentage of revenue through to April 2023 had declined to 18.6%, lower than 19.3% in 2022.
“We remain confident of delivering a record performance for the full period F2023,” Berson said.
BUSINESS REPORT