Farmlands: profit doubled, revenue up

Peter Reidie

Farmlands has more than doubled its profit in the year to June 30, while revenue is also up more than 10%.

Yesterday, the rural supplies services co-operative announced its financial result, which was another year of growth and profitability for shareholders, chief executive Peter Reidie said.

Revenue was up from $2.16billion to $2.39billion, while net profit was up from $5.4million to $12.2million. That was a marked transition from the $9million loss of the previous year.

The strong financial result enabled Farmlands to reintroduce a year-end rebate for shareholders. In total, it would be returning $6.1million to shareholders, split 50:50 between cash and extra shares under the bonus scheme. During the year, shareholders had also benefited from monthly rebates totalling $91million.

Winning the KPMG customer excellence experience award, in particular, was a great boost for staff, Mr Reidie said.

"To come out as the number one brand in New Zealand for the global KPMG Award, against the likes of Air New Zealand, Kiwibank, New World and ASB is tangible proof that the co-operative is moving from good to great, in line with our strategy," he said in a statement.

Mr Johnstone said the co-operative had seen a 3% growth in shareholder numbers.

In their annual report, the pair said Farmlands was running an ongoing shareholder engagement research programme to better understand shareholder expectations and where it needed to improve.

Research results so far had been pleasing - 93% of those surveyed said Farmlands was doing a good job - but it also meant 7% of shareholders thought it could be doing things better.

"We look forward to collecting more data on how we can improve our service."

Three long-serving directors - Joe Ferraby , David Jensen, and Peter Wilson - would step down at this year's annual meeting, in Hokitika on November 23.

Manuka Gorge farmer and Silver Fern Farms chairman Rob Hewett was seeking re-election as his three-year term came to an end by rotation.

There were 11 shareholders vying for the three seats - two in the South Island and one in the North Island.

The North Island candidates were Gray Baldwin, Rick Braddock, Paul Price, Guy Williams and Fenton Wilson.

The South Island candidates were Scott Adams (Blenheim), former agriculture minister and speaker of the house David Carter, Neil Hamilton (Loburn), John Latta (Stirling), Dawn Sangster (Ranfurly) and Mr Hewett.