Camellia shares dipped 1.6% to 6,000p in early morning trading on Wednesday following lower production levels due to heavy monsoonal conditions across northern India and Bangladesh.
The group highlighted higher wages for workers across west Bengal and for Assam, bringing welcome news for farmers and employees. However, Camellia noted higher prices were not currently expected to completely offset the impact of its reduced crop intake and stronger wages.
Camellia said its macadamia operations continued to harvest and process product at higher expected volumes year-on-year.
However, the company added demand was lower due to lockdowns in China, and US and Japanese demand remained subdued, with pricing for commercial grades still under pressure with no prospect of recovery for the current period.
Camellia mentioned its ATJ Engineering investment continued to face supply chain problems on production scheduling, impacting profitability.
The firm noted a dent in its returns from BF&M, its 36.9% owned associate, which reported a net post-tax loss of £12.3 million Bermudian dollars, representing a loss of £4.6 million for Camellia.
Camellia mentioned cash and cash equivalents net of borrowings at £37.1 million on 30 June 2022.
The company said its outlook was reliant on its agriculture division, where the majority of its harvesting and sales would take place in HY2 2022.
Camellia added its outlook would also be reliant on BF&M’s HY2 results, however if the group enjoyed a normal financial term, revenue would come slightly above market expectations with an adjusted pre-tax profit below market expectations.