GrainCorp chief executive Robert Spurway has announced record half-year profits.Credit:
“The numbers here speak for themselves,” said GrainCorp CEO and managing director Robert Spurway on Wednesday morning. “We are seeing ongoing strong global demand for Australian soft commodities and favourable east coast of Australia growing conditions providing positive momentum into[the 2023 financial year].”
Royal Bank of Canada analyst Owen Birrell said the business was “extremely well-positioned in the current market environment” and looking forward to another very strong year in 2023.
However,while he noted that the CEO’s commentary was positive,there was no upgrade to its previously announced full-year earnings guidance for $310-370 million in underlying net profit.
GrainCorp said it would pay shareholders an interim dividend of 24 cents per share fully franked,up from 8 cents per share this time last year,but Birrell said the market had been “expecting a lot more than that”.
For GrainCorp’s share price to increase,two things need to happen,he said:earnings expectations had to rise,or shareholders had to receive returns in some form,whether in the form of share price accretion,dividends,capital returns or a buyback.
The company in November 2021 flagged a buyback scheme of $50 million that Spurway said would commence “shortly”.