By LIAM DANN
Turners & Growers is to spin off another part of its business before it finally lists on the NZX this year.
Chairman Tony Gibbs said the company - which has already spun-off and listed Turners Auctions - would separate its processing business Enzafoods from its core fresh produce operations.
Enzafoods
was itself a possible candidate for market listing but there were no immediate plans as the company remained focused on the Turners & Growers float, Gibbs said.
Turners & Growers was still on track to list by the end of 2004 although the timing would be dependent on the success of the Enzafoods separation, he said.
Enzafoods was a significant business in its own right, he said.
It consists of three juicing plants that together process about 100,000 tonnes of apples a year.
They also process other produce such as carrots and berries.
Turners & Growers yesterday announced an after-tax profit of $11.7 million for the year to December 31.
It is the first result to include all the benefits of the merger of Turners and Enza in January 2003.
The result shows the combined company has sales revenue of almost $1 billion. In the previous 12-month period it reported a loss of $900,000 and operating revenue of just $106 million.
Comparisons with the 2002 year weren't relevant because that period had included most of the costs of the merger but few of the benefits, Gibbs said.
The company will resume paying a dividend, with a payment of 12c a share in early April.
As at December 2003 Turners & Growers had total shareholder equity of $180.9 million.
