Ballance signs up record shareholders
A record number of farmers from around the country have secured shareholdings in Ballance Agri-Nutrients in time to
receive a rebate on their fertiliser purchased from the farm nutrient co-operative in September this year.
Ballance’s rebate and dividend in the 2013 financial year averaged a record $65 per tonne.
Nearly 1000 farmers signed up to become shareholders for the 2014 financial year which ended on 31 May.
Customers are required to sign up before the end of year cut off to be automatically eligible for a rebate payment for
purchases during the year. In the rush to sign up before the year ended, some 300 new shareholders signed up in May 2014
alone.
Chairman David Peacocke said that as smaller farms become integrated into larger farming enterprises, growing the
shareholder base from a shrinking number of farm owners is no small accomplishment.
“We’re hearing that customers like what our co-operative is doing, and they want to be part of it. The influx is quite a
step change from prior years, and nearly double the amount of new shareholders compared to last year. Interest has
certainly picked up and we think this reflects our stable financial performance over recent years and our consistent
performance with rebates. For a relatively modest outlay, customers who become shareholders get access to those rebates,
essentially proving an overall reduction in the fertiliser costs which are a regular item on farm budgets.”
Mr Peacocke said the low initial outlay and the ability to share up via rebates made shareholding in the co-operative
easily affordable.
“We have also looked at how we can add more value to being a shareholder as part of our approach to complete farm
nutrient management. In addition to rebates, for examples, our shareholders have free access to a base package of our Ag
Hub online farm management system including GIS interactive farm mapping, access to farm nutrient budgets, soil tests
and fertiliser plan histories, and online ordering for Ballance products. ”
Ballance’s shares are currently valued at $8.10, and are regularly reviewed with the board recommending to shareholders
if revaluations reflecting the company’s performance should take place. They have been re-valued three times in the past
six years, with the last increase of 60 cents voted in by shareholders at the last annual meeting in September 2013.
ends