SUNRICE has reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $143.6 million for the year ended April 30, down 3 percent on the previous financial year.

The ASX-listed rice company recorded net profit after tax of $73.3M, up 4pc on FY25.

Revenue fell $46M or 2.5pc to $1.8 billion for FY26.

The company has flagged a significant drop in profits for FY27 driven by a reduced Riverina crop size and the appreciating Australian dollar against key currencies including the US dollar.

SunRice announced a CY25 paddy return of $400 per tonne for medium grain, largely consistent with last year’s $406/t return.

SunRice Group chief executive officer Paul Serra said the results came during a challenging domestic and international period, with lower Australian mill-out rates and increased competition.

“FY26 was a year of solid performance for SunRice Group, with improved after-tax profitability, coupled with strong EBITDA margins in a more demanding trading environment,” Mr Serra said.

“We operated in a challenging external environment, navigating foreign-exchange volatility, heightened competition in key markets, the impact of the lower Australian crop mill-out rates, and the reduced rice supply.

“Our response was to stay focused on factors within our control: targeted pricing, cost management, and continued investment in initiatives expected to support long-term business growth.”

Global rice sourcing

SunRice flagged a substantially reduced rice crop for 2026 compared to 2025.

ABARES June Crop report had the crop harvested this year at 178,000t, the smallest harvest since 2019-20, and 66pc down from 2025.

Adding to the challenge, forecasts of an El Niño event prompted the company to diversify its rice sourcing beyond its traditional suppliers in Australia, Vietnam and the US.

Mr Serra said SunRice’s “global sourcing strategy” was key to ensuring it was not reliant on one market.

“Our global sourcing division has never been more important, particularly as we look to a drier outlook here in Australia.

“We continue to diversify our global sourcing with nearly two-thirds of our demand now sourced outside of Australia.

“This strategy is driven by two key factors: the diversification away from any one region and enabling the company to source the highest quality rice at the best competitive prices for its global brands.”

Source: SunRice

According to SunRice’s annual report, outside of Australia, Vietnam and the US, the company sources rice from India, Italy, Pakistan, Taiwan, China, Cambodia, Argentina, Thailand, and Uruguay.

Mr Serra said the company invested $3M in FY26 to explore new sourcing options, particularly in South America.

This was supported by ongoing investment to support water efficiency and varietal-development initiatives, and global trading capability.

“A recent example of this has been our continued focus on new regions and the group’s successful harvest of a first commercial rice crop in South America in FY26.

“This marks an important proof-point for the group’s multi-sourcing strategy and a further step in building resilience to the Australian climatic and policy conditions.”

The preliminary report said SunRice had acquired 100pc of the share capital in Ricegrowers Uruguay S.A., further underscoring its push into the South American market.

Feed, bulk rice segments lead

SunRice’s bulk rice and animal-feed segment outperformed the others during the year, with EBITDA up 158pc to $17.9M and revenue up 4pc to $327.4M.

This was driven by improved market conditions in Australia and New Zealand, supported by new customers, lower US rice-sourcing costs, a favourable sourcing mix, and higher global tender prices.

The Australia and New Zealand consumer packaged goods segment reported stable revenue at $735.3M, compared to $734.4M in FY25, and EBITDA down 14pc to $62.6M.

The company said expansion into selected product categories offset increased competition, inflationary pressures and portfolio rationalisation.

Revenue for the international consumer packaged goods segment fell 7pc to $736.7M, with EBITDA increasing 1pc to $87.1M.

The group was impacted by currency pressures, intensified competition and supply-chain disruptions, but mitigated those challenges through product and distribution expansion, innovation, pricing strategies, and operational efficiencies.

FY27 outlook

SunRice is forecasting slightly lower overall revenue in FY27, although it expects growth in key branded markets driven by new product launches, expanded distribution, increased consumer uptake in the Middle East, pricing initiatives, and a recovery in Pacific markets.

Mr Serra said despite global rice sourcing, the reduced CY26 rice crop would significantly reduce profitability for the current financial year.

“In relation to profitability, as experienced in previous cycles, the smaller crop in Australia is expected to result in cost inefficiencies and under-absorption in the group’s Australian rice operations.

“This is expected to compress margins in FY27 with NPAT expected to be materially lower than FY26.

“We also expect earnings to be heavily skewed towards the second half as we’ll absorb the majority of the transitional costs associated with the small crop in the first half.”

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