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Oceana, a leading South African fishing group said headline earnings per share for the six months ended 31 March 2005 are now expected to be between 55% and 60% lower than the comparative figure for the same period a year ago. Earnings per share for the 6 months ended 31 March 2005 are now expected to be between 70% and 75% lower than last year because of larger provisions raised in the Namibian hake operations than originally anticipated, the company announced this week. The Namibian subsidiary Blue Ocean had to lay off over 130 workers in January after closing business, due to difficulties in the fishing industry since 2002.

Earnings per share includes the full effect of asset write downs, loan provisions and other costs of closure in the Namibian hake operations whereas certain of these costs have been added back in the calculation of headline earnings per share. Shareholders were also advised that the decrease in earnings for the first 6 months did not necessarily give an indication of earnings per share for the full year to 30 September 2005. Factors such as fishing seasonality as well as the fluctuating exchange rates affected profitability.

Meanwhile the Seaflower Whitefish company at Lüderitz has suspended 3 managers this week on allegations of fraud, the NBC reported.