Elders Limited (ELD) Q4 2023 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Thank you very much and welcome to all for the elders full year results presentation for the FY23 year. Thank you for joining Paul and myself for the session today. From an elders viewpoint, this is the final year of our third eight point plan. The elders philosophy since the first eight point plan in 2014 has been to control what we control and not to dwell on what we can't control. To have a cost and capital structure to allow us to make good returns in bad years and to make great returns in good years. The FY23 results are an example of acceptable returns in very difficult market and cost conditions. In fact, this result is the second highest result in the last 10 years for Elders. We use our multiple diversifications by product, service, geography, crop segment, commercial model and channel to market and our financial discipline to deliver consistent and high returns for our stakeholders. In summary, we aim to control what we can control. Over the first two years of our third eight-point plan, and more specifically in FY22, we experienced exceptionally strong and early market conditions across most production enterprises and geographies. We also had positive livestock prices, winter crop and summer crop conditions with unseasonable rainfall, all resulting in a record profit last year. Our view in November last year was that the exceptional FY22 results would normalise to average conditions in FY23. Although we expected a reduction in livestock prices, we did not foresee near 60% drops in cattle and sheep prices over a very short period of time. In this context, the performance of Elders with its clear and consistent strategy, multiple diversifications, high financial discipline, hardworking and committed team and enduring customer anchor as the most trusted brand...