New Zealand's largest fruit and vegetable company, T&G Global, has reported a rise in net profit during the first half of the year despite weather challenges that affected production.

The company said the net profit in the six months through the June period rose 19% to nearly NZ$4m (US$2.5m). Meanwhile, revenue fell by 4% to NZ$560.8m (US$363.2).

The pipfruit division was hit by lower-than-average prices in the domestic market, T&G Global said.

"Adverse weather conditions in New Zealand led to harvested apple volumes and apple sizing being smaller than expected," it added.

But sales in the division were offset by improvements in the international produce division. These were primarily driven by exports from Australia, especially table grapes, citrus and berries.

Revenue from the New Zealand produce division was also impacted by last year's divestment of the Northland kiwifruit business. This reduced the volume of kiwifruit available this year.

"In addition to this, the mild start to winter in New Zealand has caused unusually low prices on several key products, including tomatoes and most green vegetables, impacting revenue for the first six months of 2019," it noted.

Looking ahead, the company said the outlook for the remainder of the year was positive and it expected to outperform the second half of last year.

"T&G should also begin to see the benefits of the reorganization in the second half of 2019," it said.

The company previously reported a sharp year-on-year drop in profit in 2018. These results were impacted by adverse market conditions and climatic events, including a poor growing season for apples.

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