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 cooperative has declared a 2019-20 season final payout of $8.70/kgMS, after retentions, to its farmer shareholders.
Tatua has continuously topped the milk payout chart over the last decade, leaving bigger players like Fonterra and Open Country Dairy in its wake.
Fonterra’s final payout for last season is $7.19/kgMS, $1.51 less than Tatua. OCD’s final payout hasn’t been made public yet.
Tatua achieved record group revenue of $381m after processing over 15 million kgMS. This equated to a $9.96/kgMS payout before retention.
Chairman Steve Allen says retention last season amount to $19.1 million before tax.
“In deciding our payout, we have sought to balance the needs of our shareholder’s farming businesses with the requirement for continued investment in Tatua’s longer-term sustainability.
“For the 2019-20 financial year, this has included a combined investment in wastewater treatment and engineering support services of $20.3 million.
“Our gearing (debt divided by debt plus equity) averaged 27.0% for the year, which was fractionally lower than the previous year average. Gearing at the end of our July financial year was 23.9%. This has strengthened our resilience and our ability to create new opportunities.”
Allen praised Tatua’s staff in NZ and abroad for their efforts.
“We have a team of people at Tatua, including those in our offshore subsidiaries, who have shown exceptional commitment in taking care of each other and the business through one of the most challenging and uncertain times we can recall. Our result is a credit to them.”
