Quantum Foods expects headline earnings of 157.5 to 173.7 cents a share for the year to 30 September 2026, up 17% to 29% on 134.4 cents.
The company said so in a JSE trading statement on Tuesday. Earnings per share should be 160.0 to 176.6 cents, a rise of 16% to 28% on the 137.8 cents of the previous year. The headline figure therefore gains between 23.1 and 39.3 cents a share. Quantum Foods said it is reasonably certain of both ranges and that its auditors have not reviewed the figures.
“Trading conditions during FY2026 were generally favourable,” the company said. It named five helpers: more demand for poultry, a firmer rand against the US dollar, cheaper feed inputs, no major poultry disease outbreaks at its operations and little electricity disruption in South Africa.
In the second half, higher fuel costs tied to instability in the Middle East raised its supply chain costs, according to the statement. Higher inflation and interest rates also pressed on consumer spending.
The business lines moved in different directions. Feed earnings improved. External feed volumes were unchanged, and the new Malmesbury feed mill, completed in the first half of the year, added to efficiency. The year before carried extra costs from repairing the mill’s raw material intake area after the June 2024 explosion.
Source: Quantum Foods trading statement, 27 October 2026. Chart: Rand Desk
Layer farming earnings were much higher, even though it sold fewer point-of-lay hens to outside buyers. The company credited better breeding, more day-old pullets sold, strong efficiency on its layer farms and insurance payouts for losses it suffered the year before. Layers are the hens kept for egg production.
Broiler farming earnings were lower. The company sold more day-old chicks and more live birds, and produced more hatching eggs at lower cost. Thinner margins on its contracted live bird sales, plus higher operating cost, outweighed those gains.
Egg earnings also fell. Volumes were slightly higher, and lower feed costs and good cost management mostly offset a 5% drop in average egg selling prices.
The other African businesses did better. Zambia gained from lower feed costs, fewer load shedding hours and higher demand for day-old chicks and feed. Uganda’s profitability improved on better farming efficiencies and higher volumes of chicks and feed sold. Mozambique’s earnings rose slightly as efficiencies, lower feed costs and higher volumes offset lower egg prices.
More company announcements are on our Business and Companies page. Quantum Foods said its results for the year are due on SENS on or about 27 November 2026.
