fbpx
Print this page
Wednesday, 21 January 2015 00:00

Chair backs status quo

Written by 

Silver Fern Farms’ chairman Rob Hewett has effectively backed himself and Herstall Ulrich in the director election requesting a vote for “no change” to the board.

 The cooperative’s debt reduction and Plate-to-Pasture programmes are “winning strategies” and it is important they are not derailed, he told Rural News.

“We want to invest more in the revenue growth parts of our business, driving our consumer and hotel-restaurant offers into selected high-potential markets around the world.”

The $100m capital raise that Goldman Sachs is scoping for the cooperative would drive such investment, as well as debt reduction, and shareholders will be kept informed and given a clear investment value proposition when appropriate, he says.

“Increased equity is investment in growth and at the same time as paying down debt, turbo-charges the business.”

Hewett acknowledges industry restructure “remains to be dealt with” and says SFF is committed to “sensible rationalisation discussions” with any industry participant.

 

More like this

Silver Thin Farms

OPINION: The Hound hears that tension was in the air at the recent Silver Fern Farms AGM, with the board reportedly dazed and confused at why their CEO would continue to hammer farmers to lower their emissions in perpetuity, without being able to state a dollar value for any of the touted premiums.

Featured

John Deere technician's record hat trick

Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

National

Machinery & Products

Tech might take time

Agritech Unleashed – a one-day event held recently at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton – focused on technology as an ‘enabler’…

John Deere acquires GUSS Automation

John Deere has announced the full acquisition of GUSS Automation, LLC, a globally recognised leader in supervised high-value crop autonomy,…

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards,…