'Fudge this' blooper appears in NZ company accounts

A herd of NZFSU's South American cows.

In every set of company accounts there are words you don't want to see - like "loss" and "write-down".

Then there are words you really don't want to see - like "fudge this".

That was the embarrassing blooper which slipped into the NZ Farming Systems Uruguay (NZFSU) annual financial statement yesterday.

The offending line: "Depreciation - fudge this to equal depn in FA note 11$ 2391 ..." had no material bearing on the result and was simply a file note overlooked in the final read, chief financial officer Andrew Clark said.

"I wouldn't blow it out of proportion. It is a rounding difference when you're trying to get a balance sheet to tie to all the notes. The differences are the ones and twos."

Still, the error raised a few eyebrows in broking circles, and even taking its non-material nature at face value, was not a good look for the directors who sign off accounts after giving them a thorough read.

A quick retraction and a note to the NZX saw the corrected accounts posted later in the day.

NZFSU, which owns dairy farms in South America, posted a full-year loss of US$45.9 million after writing down the value of livestock and farms amid falling dairy prices.

The loss from operations was US$15.6 million in the year ended June 30, although revenue doubled to US$15.8 million from US$7.8 million, as milk volume more than tripled to 44.6 million litres from 13.4 million litres the previous year. Milk revenue doubled to US$10 million.

While uncertainty remained over milk prices, expectations were for gradual improvement.

It was likely the next year would be difficult, although supply was expected to fall through cow culling and farm closures. This would eventually lead to a supply and demand situation similar to that of two years ago.

NZFSU shares closed up 1c at 46c.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Agencies