Agribusiness group Great Southern Limited yesterday announced a net operating loss before goodwill impairment of $33.8 million for the year ended September 30, partly the result of lower than expected total sales of the company’s managed investment scheme (MIS) products.
The loss includes allowance for doubtful debts of $56.9 million before tax, which includes a specific provision of $37.2 million announced in March.
The company has also written off $30 million of intangible assets, taking the total reported loss for the year to $63.8 million.
Managing director Cameron Rhodes said the result was heavily impacted by a 24 per cent fall in the company’s MIS products on the previous year.
Greta Southern has also announced that it could be issuing between 121 million and 260 million new shares via its Project Transform, based on proxies votes from investors received to date.
On Friday Great Southern announced it had written to investors to inform them that it had postponed meetings scheduled for this Monday to vote on its Project Transform.
Project Transform is intended to inject equity into Great Southern via acquisition of eight of its managed investment scheme (MIS) projects from investors in exchange for up to 816 million shares in the company.
The eight projects are the 1998-2003 Plantations Projects and the 2006 and 2007 Beef Cattle Projects.
A GSL media release said the independent directors of responsible entity Great Southern Managers Australia Limited (GSMAL) decided investors “need additional time to digest the range of existing and new information that is available before casting their vote”.
“The GSMAL directors, who represent the growers and graziers, took this decision following significant feedback from investors, who believe more time will assist them in making an informed decision,” it said.
