NZK FY24: $24.5m pro-forma EBITDA hit, but $1.4m H2 cash exposes quality gap

Reported EBITDA swung to $47.0m from $11.7m, PBT rose to $40.1m (n/m) and NPAT to $28.5m (n/m). The economic headline, however, is the company's own pro-forma EBITDA of $24.5m (FY23: a $2.7m loss), which lands inside the $23.5m–$27.5m guidance band and excludes a $15.8m pre-tax fair value uplift on biological assets that flows through GAAP earnings.

Cash quality moved the other way. Operating cash flow was $13.2m for the year, but $11.8m of that was booked in 1H24, leaving roughly $1.4m of operating cash in 2H24. Working capital absorbed $12.3m, with trade debtors up 36.6% and inventory up 24.7%. Net cash position was essentially flat at $15.5m.

• The $15.8m biological-asset revaluation is the main bridge between pro-forma EBITDA of $24.5m and reported EBITDA of $47.0m. Strip it out and the underlying turnaround is real but materially smaller than the headline NPAT growth suggests, which is why pro-forma — not GAAP — should anchor the read.
• Cash conversion is weak and back-end-loaded the wrong way. OCF/EBITDA of 28.1% on the reported number, or roughly 54% against pro-forma EBITDA, is poor for a year that delivered guidance. With only ~$1.4m of operating cash in the second half versus $11.8m in the first, the result depended on early-year working-capital release and lost momentum as inventory rebuilt for the seasonal harvest model.
• Working capital is consuming the earnings recovery. Receivable days extended to 35.9 from 29.5 and inventory days to 72.4 from 64.9, lifting operating working capital by $12.3m. Inventory build is consistent with the smaller-fish/seasonal-harvest strategy management has flagged, but it means a meaningful share of the EBITDA improvement has not yet converted to cash.

The FY25 pro-forma EBITDA range of $26m–$32m (midpoint ~$29m) implies roughly 18% growth at the midpoint on the pro-forma base, which the release attributes to continued execution of the revised production model.

No revenue, volume, NPAT, capex or cash guidance is provided, and there is no stated dividend or payout target. The release does not quantify expected working-capital movement or biological-asset revaluation in FY25, so the cash and GAAP shape of next year is unresolved on this disclosure.

The $15.8m fair value uplift is non-cash, and the tax line normalised to 29.0% from 10.5%, which compresses the NPAT growth rate (n/m) below PBT growth (n/m); PBT is the cleaner operating read.

Cash quality is the bigger flag. With FCF pre-lease of $7.2m on $28.5m NPAT, FCF/NPAT was 25.2% and capex intensity rose to 3.2% of revenue from 0.9%. The half-on-half pattern — $11.8m of OCF in 1H followed by ~$1.4m in 2H — shows the year was carried by early working-capital timing rather than a steady cash-generating run-rate.

• Reported EBITDA $47.0m vs pro-forma EBITDA $24.5m → ~$22.5m gap, primarily the $15.8m fair value uplift.
• OCF $13.2m on reported EBITDA $47.0m → 28.1% conversion.
• OCF 1H $11.8m vs 2H ~$1.4m → 2H cash generation effectively absent.

This briefing cannot assess underlying biomass health, mortality trends, or pricing dynamics beyond what is summarised in the release commentary.