Cyber Incident Victim: Astral Foods
Date:
Mar 2025
Location:
South Africa
Summary
Astral Foods experienced a cybersecurity incident that disrupted its poultry division, causing processing downtime and delivery delays. The breach led to revenue losses and added costs from clearing a production backlog, trimming the group’s profit by about thirty‑eight million rand. In response the company issued a profit warning, forecasting a sharp drop in earnings per share and headline earnings per share for the reporting period. This outlook reflects also the pressure from falling chicken prices, higher feed input costs after a drought, and intense retail promotions on frozen chicken. Despite the hit to earnings the company noted its balance sheet stays strong with healthy cash generation and a net cash position.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 2 techniques |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On 16March 2025, Astral Foods experienced a cybersecurity incident that disrupted its poultry division, leading to downtime in processing operations and delays in customer deliveries. The incident occurred during the first half of the company's financial year 2025. The disruption affected the division that contributes the majority of external revenue. The company described its reaction as swift.
As a direct result of the incident, Astral Foods incurred revenue losses and incurred additional costs to clear a production backlog that had accumulated during the downtime. The combined effect of these losses and backlog‑clearance expenses reduced the group’s profit for the reporting period by approximately R20 million (about US$1.1 million). In its trading update, the company stated that, with reasonable certainty, earnings per share and headline earnings per share for the six‑month period ending 31 March 2025 would fall by up to 55 % and 60 % respectively, translating to an EPS of 415 South African cents and an HEPS of 354 cents, down from the prior year’s EPS of 923 cents and HEPS of 884 cents. Astral also issued a profit warning, signalling the expected decline in half‑year profitability.
Despite the incident‑related setback, Astral Foods emphasized that its balance sheet remained strong, supported by healthy cash generation, and that it maintained a net cash position in the first half of financial year 2025 compared with a net debt position in the same period of the previous year. The company noted its continued focus on strengthening its financial position and practicing prudent working‑capital management. These statements were made alongside the disclosure of the cybersecurity event and its financial repercussions.