Blue Sky Meats says it is ''looking ahead to greener pastures'' despite posting another $1.9 million net loss after tax for the year ending March.
In his review, chairman Scott O'Donnell said the 2016-17 year started ''with great promise'' but various factors conspired to create an outcome that was yet again well below expectations.
The company was reviewing its options for its unprofitable Gore beef plant, acquired in 2014, which ranged from reinstatement of full operations to an asset sale.
Mr O'Donnell believed the company had the ability to operate profitably, saying a business plan prepared late last year provided a clear pathway for a return to profitability.
Main negative impacts included the beef plant incurring a $1.4 million loss, weather-related effluent issues at the rendering plant causing it to be closed for nine weeks, resulting in a loss of about $860,000, and incurring costs of $163,000 as a result of the takeover attempt by NZ Binxi (Oamaru) Ltd.
Chief executive Todd Grave said the company undertook its first comprehensive strategic review in the third quarter.
With a series of disappointing financial performances in recent years, it was important to stop, take stock of the situation and plot a clear path forward that the entire business could rally around, Mr Grave said.
The resulting strategic plan now formed the platform for a return to profit, outlining in detail 20 projects, bringing a targeted $7.8 million of added value over the next three years.
The projects spanned all key areas of the business, with an emphasis on modernisation, simplification and innovation.
The results for the first three months of the 2018 were up significantly on budget and previous years, which displayed a positive trend for the upcoming season, he said.
Since its acquisition, the Gore beef plant had failed to reach breakeven and had been a drag on resources and overall performance of the company. It had struggled due to high schedule prices and weak overseas market dynamics.
In the third quarter, the ''tough'' decision was made to temporarily close the plant until a long-term feasible solution was identified as part of the plan. Gore staff were offered secondment to the Morton Mains plant.
Revenue and volume were down on the previous year but strong selling prices had offset that decrease, with revenue per kilogram climbing throughout the period and ending significantly up on last year.
The new ovine season started with a promising outlook, with contracted stock commitments from suppliers up 23% on the previous year.
However, almost immediately, the projected strong lamb numbers did not eventuate, primarily driven by an unusually cold and wet start to the season.
Disrupted and inconsistent stock flows continued throughout the season, with large numbers of lamb and mutton lost to unprofitably high prices at yards sales, he said.
The season proved to be one of the most difficult in recent years, with the national industry ovine kill numbers down 6% on the previous year. That saw a commensurate increase in schedule prices to recent historic highs, he said.
