ProTen chicken farmer gets go-ahead for A$60M NSW expansion

ProTen chicken farmer gets go-ahead for A$60M New South Wales expansion

By Tina Morrison

Nov. 13 (BusinessDesk) - ProTen, an Australian chicken farming business whose shares trade on New Zealand's Unlisted market, gained planning approval this week enabling it to expand operations in the Australian state of New South Wales.

The NSW State Department of Planning and Environment approved the company's plan to develop 80 broiler chicken sheds near Narrandera in NSW, chief executive Daniel Bryant said in a statement. The Sydney-based company expects to start construction later this month.

ProTen, Australia's largest independent contract grower of broiler chickens for meat, has secured A$60.2 million of funding from Rabobank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia to fund the construction, it said in its 2015 annual report. The development will house about 3.9 million broiler chickens for ProTen's long-term supply contracts with Baiada Poultry, the nation's biggest chicken processor.

In June, the company raised a net A$24.6 million which it aimed to use, together with bank debt, to invest A$130 million in increasing its production to an annual 72 million chickens, from 40 million, taking its share of Australian production to 11 percent from 7 percent. It said it may also expand into related protein industries.

ProTen's profit jumped 59 percent to A$6.8 million in the year ended June 30, as revenue advanced 8.4 percent to A$29.4 million and direct costs gained 8.2 percent to A$12.1 million.

Its 2015 profit was boosted by a A$1.9 million gain in the value of its investment property, compared with a A$450,000 gain the year earlier. Its investment property holdings increased 3.6 percent to A$133.9 million in the year ended June 30, reflecting its continued investment in broiler farm assets, the company said

Its shares last traded at 77 cents on Sept. 29, valuing the company at $86.9 million.

(BusinessDesk)

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