Subdued demand for tomatoes, berries and avocados in December has seen more than a third wiped off Costa Holding Group's share price.
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The fruit and vegetable grower's stock plummeted by as much as 40 per cent at Thursday's open after the company cut its half-year forecast following weaker demand for produce.
An earlier than expected finish to the citrus "off season" also contributed, with the share price falling from $7.37 at Wednesday's close to as low as $4.47.
Costa was trading 34.12 per cent lower at $4.85 at 1155 AEDT.
The company said a continuation of current conditions, together with short term slippage of the commissioning of the Monarto mushroom facility upgrade in South Australia and the previously announced additional costs from its African project, is expected to result in largely flat profit growth for the twelve months to July 2019.
Costa's operations include approximately 4,500 planted hectares of farmland, 30 hectares of glasshouse facilities and seven mushroom growing facilities across the country.
Australian Associated Press
