Rainbow Chicken says it has moved beyond its turnaround phase and is now focused on growth, with expansion into Africa, higher-value products and selective opportunities forming the next stage of its strategy. The poultry producer’s results for the year to June showed revenue rising 7.7% to R17.1bn and headline earnings up 131.4% to R1.35bn, with cash and cash equivalents increasing to R2.4bn from R1.8bn. The group declared a 45c final dividend and a 75c special dividend, which, together with an already-paid 15c interim dividend, brought the total distribution for the year to 135c a share.
The results mark Rainbow’s second full financial year as a standalone JSE company. RCL Foods unbundled the poultry business in June 2024, distributing all 890.3 million Rainbow shares to its own shareholders on a one-for-one basis and giving the business, which also owns South Africa’s second-largest animal feed operation through its Epol and Driehoek Feeds brands, direct access to equity markets to fund its own growth. Interim results to December had already shown headline earnings doubling to R669.6m, so the full year reflects a second half that broadly extended that momentum.
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The chicken division remains the core of the business, with annual revenue up 7.6% to R15bn and operating profit surging to R1.34bn from R434.5m. Rainbow attributed the jump to firmer pricing, a more strategic product mix, lower commodity feed costs and improvements in farming metrics such as average daily gains, mortality rates and feed conversion ratios. The Animal Feed division also contributed, supported by increased external sales and a shift toward higher-margin volumes.
| Metric | FY2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Group revenue | R17.1bn | +7.7% |
| Headline earnings | R1.35bn | +131.4% |
| Chicken division revenue | R15bn | +7.6% |
| Chicken division operating profit | R1.34bn | from R434.5m |
| Total dividend | 135c/share | — |
| Cash and cash equivalents | R2.4bn | from R1.8bn |
Having rebuilt its operating base, Rainbow is now positioning itself for expansion, with Africa a specific focus. The company points to the African Continental Free Trade Area as widening the scope for cross-border trade and longer-term relationships in higher-growth markets, though it cautions that actual export growth will depend on disease control, veterinary certification, market-access negotiations and reliable logistics.
That expansion is set against a domestic industry still leaning on trade protection. The South African Poultry Association, whose members include Rainbow, Astral and Grain Field Chickens, is pushing to extend anti-dumping duties on frozen bone-in chicken from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, first imposed in 2015 and renewed in 2021. The duties lapsed in August, triggering a sunset review in which the trade regulator has already reached a preliminary view favouring their retention, citing dumping margins as high as 425.64% on German imports. Separately, the industry continues to absorb a 72,000-tonne annual poultry quota granted to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, an allowance Rainbow has previously said it would like scrapped given the Trump administration’s uncertain stance on the trade pact’s future.
Cost volatility tied to global events has also shaped the past year. Chief executive Marthinus Stander flagged earlier in the year that the Israel-Iran conflict was pushing up Brent crude and, with it, Chicago maize futures, a key swing factor in feed costs. Avian influenza remains an ever-present threat too; Rainbow said it avoided major outbreaks this year through strengthened biosecurity and surveillance, even as the industry remains at odds with government over the cost and practicality of a national vaccination programme.
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On the demand side, Rainbow acknowledged that rising living costs have pushed some households to cut back on animal protein generally, even though chicken remains the country’s most affordable option, a dynamic that has occasionally worked in the industry’s favour, such as when an earlier foot-and-mouth disease outbreak pushed some consumers away from red meat entirely.
Investors welcomed the shift in tone: Rainbow’s share price closed 3.88% higher at R6.43 on Friday, extending its year-to-date gain to 31.76% just over two years after its return to the JSE.