The tussle between two shareholders for control of poultry group Quantum Foods heated up yesterday after one of the protagonists demanded a meeting to oust the chairperson, in what one analyst described as an “ongoing battle between legends for a company that makes no money”.
Quantum Foods Holdings said yesterday its 18% shareholder Country Bird Holdings (CBH) had demanded a shareholder meeting to discuss the proposed removal of chairperson, Wouter Hanekom.
CBH also called for the removal of Quantum’s lead independent director, Geoffrey Fortuin, from the animal feeds and poultry product group.
The latest call for a shareholder meeting follows that of another shareholder, Braemar Trading, which in March also demanded a shareholder meeting to remove Hanekom from his position. Braemar is a company owned by the controversial Zimbabwean business family, the Rudlands.
At the time, the meeting was not called because Quantum’s legal counsel had advised that the meeting would not be legally compliant.
Smalltalkdaily Research investment analyst, Anthony Clark, who is also a specialist on the poultry sector, said yesterday’s call for a shareholder meeting was the latest in a long-running battle for control of Quantum between Braemar and Country Bird, and Quantum’s defence so far had been a “Stalingrad defence”, which entailed citing legal reasons why a shareholding meeting cannot be held.
Quantum said they would inform shareholders soon about what action they would take about the proposed meeting.
Meanwhile, Quantum’s former non-executive director, Tanya Golden, confirmed to Business Report yesterday she had commenced legal action against Quantum regarding the circumstances of her departure from the company.
Quantum had said in a statement to shareholders that Golden had resigned as a director with effect from May 31, 2024, and had stepped down as a member of the audit and risk committee as well as the social, ethics and transformation committee, and the board had thanked her for her contribution.
Meanwhile, Quantum last month also had to deal with an explosion that occurred at its Malmesbury feed mill, the cause of which was unknown, and which resulted in the death of one individual with two others injured.
Quantum’s financial position has so far this year taken a considerable turn for the better, with operating profit increasing by 320% to R61 million in the six months to March 31, 2024, despite a 13% decline in revenue to R3.01 billion.
Headline earnings per share increased by a whopping 651% to 21.7 cents, from 2.9 cents.
This, however, was not reflected in yesterday’s share price, which had gained 1.13% to R10.70 after midday yesterday, but which has fallen considerably after reaching as much as R18.50 in the past 12 months.
Clark said the poultry sector had struggled for the past three months as input costs had increased again and there was an inability by producers to push through price increases to financially strapped consumers. He said this was also evidenced by the recent low share prices of Rainbow Chicken, which on Wednesday traded at only R3.51, below the R3.65 that the company had listed at on the JSE last month.
BUSINESS REPORT