South Africa faces chicken shortages in the coming months as a bird flu outbreak and persistent electricity cuts ravage the poultry industry, the country’s largest producer Astral Foods says.
In a trading update, Astral said on Thursday that it expected to report a headline loss of 18.02 rand to 18.08 rand ($0.9564-$0.9596) per share in the year to September 30, compared with a profit of 27.62 rand ($1.46) last year. The projected loss is due mainly to persistent power cuts.
