Urban investors attracted to dairy farm investment

Urban investors attracted to dairy farm investment.

City investors are showing keen interest in investment in Eastbourne Dairy Farm Limited in Southland says Roger Dickie (N.Z.) Ltd spokesman Richard Bourne.

Mr Bourne says shares in Eastbourne (the company's 92nd rural investment) are now 78% subscribed with interest coming from largely city based New Zealand and overseas investors. Overseas investors are limited to 24.9% of the shareholding says Bourne and that portion is close to being fully subscribed.

Eastbourne Dairy Farm is located in Southland in an area known for its good quality soils and reliable rainfall. Existing farmers in the vicinity of Eastbourne are obtaining high production levels with minimum supplement input.

After listening to investor feedback, Mr Bourne said that Eastbourne has been structured to have no term debt and it is proposed that annual dividends will be paid from the first year onwards. Shareholder income will come from an annual cash dividend derived from operating profits and longer term, any capital gain in the value of the land and assets. Historical figures provided by Quotable Value and REINZ showed long term capital gain in New Zealand dairy farms averaged 5.4% per annum net of inflation for the past 25 years, he said.

Mr Bourne believes the reason city investors are interested in Eastbourne is because they like the fact that they were involved in freehold ownership of quality land with no debt. In addition he said, the level of investment is very flexible starting at $25,000 and the secondary market operated by the company for their 2,500 other investors, helps provide liquidity for their shares. It gives them an opportunity to be part of the star performer of the New Zealand economy, dairying, Mr Bourne said.

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