The past month has afforded the agribusiness sector little joy.
On 23 April, listed agribusiness firm Timbercorp succumbed to the pressures of the market and KordaMentha was appointed as its voluntary administrator.
Timbercorp’s full-year accounts, which were issued in November 2008, showed the firm had debt of $568 million, net debt of $903.1 million and net assets of $595 million.
The company has about 170 staff based in Melbourne, Perth, Hamilton, Mildura and Penola.
Last week, KordaMentha appointed 26 creditor committees to assess each of the beleaguered agribusiness group’s projects.
According to media reports, the committees consist of the main creditors for each project and include ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and BOS International.
However, the untimely fall of Timbercorp may not be the sole collapse for the sector, with strong rumours the firm’s industry rival, Great Southern, is on the brink failure.
On 7 May, the listed firm informed the market of a trading halt. Four days later the firm requested voluntary suspension from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
“The company is seeking a voluntary suspension pending the release of an announcement on the company’s 2009 MIS (managed investment scheme) sales program and working capital requirements,” a company statement said.
Great Southern expects to release an announcement to the ASX on 18 May.
Industry speculation has suggested the announcement will follow a similar line to that of Timbercorp – Great Southern may also fold.
It now seems the hype over the MIS test case win last December has well and truly fallen into the background.
Yet, while Timbercorp and Great Southern languish in limbo, integrated forestry company Willmott Forests announced a push into the timber market.
Last week, Willmott Forests launched a new investment vehicle targeted at superannuation-style investors.
“It’s business as usual at Willmott Forests with all our plantation management obligations on track and the launch of this exciting new investment vehicle,” Willmott Forests chief executive Marcus Derham said.
On 28 April, Willmott Forests said the appointment of voluntary administrators to Timbercorp had created some market uncertainty about the forestry management investment scheme model.
However, Timbercorp’s current position should not be viewed as an indicator of the financial position or viability of other industry participants, the firm said.
As they say, watch this space.
