Tatua's just too-good
OPINION: Earlier this month, small Waikato milk processor Tatua reminded the country that it’s still number one when it comes to paying farmers for their milk.
The co-op has announced a record payout of $10.43/kgMS before retentions for the 2020-21 season. The co-op has retained $1.18/kgMS for reinvestment meaning its farmer shareholders get a cash payout of $9.25/kgMS.
In 2019-20, Tatua paid its shareholders a cash payout of $8.70/kgMS after retaining $1.26 base from earnings of $9.96/kgMS.
Fonterra last month announced a final payout of $7.74; milk price of $7.50 and 20c dividend. Synlait announced an average payout of $7.82/kgMs for last season- made up of a base milk price of $7.55 and incentive payment of 27c.
Tatua chief executive Brendhan Greaney says the lingering uncertainty related to Covid-19 and the ongoing global shipping disruption continued to create challenges through the year.
“However, we acknowledge that many businesses and individuals have faced greater hardships, and that we are fortunate to have been able to continue to operate as we have,” he says.
“We are pleased to report that the business has had a good year, achieving group income of $395 million and earnings available for pay-out of $162 million.
“Our earnings equate to $10.43/kgMS qualifying milksolids, before retentions for reinvestment and taxation. This is an improvement on the previous year earnings of $9.96/kgMS, and is a record for Tatua.”
Greaney explained why Tatua had retained $18m for reinvestment.
“In deciding our payout, we sought to balance the needs of our shareholder’s farming businesses with the requirement for continued investment in the business to support longer-term sustainability, and a level of debt we consider sensible in what remains an uncertain economic and global trade environment.”
