Job cuts tipped as Ingham's eyes meaty sharemarket float

The Ingham's share sale is expected to be the year's largest, with the company telling the market it is undergoing a "transformation" that will underpin earnings growth for the next three to five years.

Essential to that transformation is a five-year program targeted to save up to $200 million. Named Project Accelerate, this will likely lead to job cuts among its 8000-plus workforce plus closures across the company's 340 facilities and farms in Australia and NZ.

Ingham's market documents state that "under utilised" facilities will be "rationalised" and "labour savings" will be found through "automation of manual processes in primary and further processing plants".

Enterprise bargaining agreements are being re-negotiated across all major sites, and there will be a "rebalancing mix of full-time, part-time and casual employees to increase flexibility," the documents say.

There will also be "increased transparency on labour performance through daily and weekly scorecards and reporting".

A spokeswoman for Ingham's said Project Accelerate was "focused on modernising our operations and investing in capacity to handle that growth, especially in South Australia and Queensland where significant capital investment is being made and jobs are being created."

Ingham's was founded by Walter Ingham in 1918 and was sold to private equity firm TPG for $880 million in 2013. Walter's son, Bob, was estimated to be worth $1.17 billion in this year's BRW Rich List.

TPG has sold about $600 million worth of Ingham's real estate, and rented it back, and appointed former Coles executive Mick McMahon as CEO and executive chairman.

Ingham's estimates it has 40 per cent market share of chicken and turkey sales in Australia, and 34 per cent of New Zealand sales.

It supplies Australia's biggest retailer, Woolworths, and fast-food chain KFC. Of its $2.28 billion revenue in the 2015 financial year, retail accounted for 53 per cent of its sales, and fast food chains (or quick service restaurants) a further 17 per cent.

The documents note that "demand for poultry is met by domestic poultry producers, with stringent biosecurity regulations restrictions restricting imports to both Australia and New Zealand markets".

But Australia and NZ recently agreed that raw poultry will be able to imported to Australia. Previously only cooked products were allowed.

One fund manager said although there were "things to like about the industry", the news NZ rival Tegel Group will be able to import raw meat into Australia "might crimp the Ingham opportunity somewhat".

Tegel said on August 18 the new agreement would allow it to export a "significantly larger range" of products than the $70 million worth it exported in the 2016 financial year, which is a tiny portion of Australia's $7.1 billion poultry market.

The spokeswoman for Ingham's said the company expected the decision to "have a limited impact as Ingham's is well positioned to benefit, being the only poultry operator with production facilities in both markets".

The documents also note that total poultry consumption has grown about 4.5 per cent a year since 1970, and chicken remains a healthy and affordable source of protein.

However, the decision by the two biggest supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, to slash the price of hot chooks at the start of the year has raised concerns about margins, given roast chicken is used as a loss-leader by many supermarkets overseas. The grocery wars have crimped margins for many suppliers, notably dairy farmers.

Woolworths says its $7.90 roast chickens are "one of the best-selling products in Fresh". Coles sells roast chickens for $8, Costco sells big chickens for $6.99.

But Ingham's said the price war was "having no direct impact on margins as our sell-in prices have not changed. There is increased volume as a result and that has some impacts through the supply chain".

This story first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald