Astral Foods said on Wednesday it expects a 90% plunge in mid-year profits, citing rolling power cuts that have hit production and hiked costs. One of the country's largest poultry firms, Astral processes nearly 6-million chickens per week and accounts for about a quarter of the country's broiler meat production. The company supplies chicken meat to top fast-food brands as well as wholesale and retail outlets in the country. It expects headline earnings per share (HEPS) — the main profit measure in South Africa — to drop to R1.42 in the six months to March 2023, from R14.20 during the same period a year earlier. "The poultry division has experienced severe operational disruptions through 1Q2023 due to Eskom load-shedding. This has continued and led to abnormal additional costs, as well as substantial production cutbacks of at least 12-million broiler placements for the 1H2023," Astral Foods said in a trading update.