KEY POINTS:
Meat processor PPCS supports a radical concept for industry restructuring but is still focused on a strategy that includes ditching the company name.
Chairman Reese Hart, who failed to be re-elected to the board, said at the company's annual meeting yesterday that PPCS supported in principle a proposal for restructure by Southland-based processor Alliance Group.
Alliance last month proposed creating a new entity to manage 80 per cent of the country's livestock supply from farm to market, which aimed to lift farm returns by about $400 million a year and deliver short-term gains of about $15 a lamb.
"What we cannot do is have our focus and attention diverted from our own strategy while concepts with no certainty of the outcome are mooted," Hart said.
The company would be renamed Silver Fern Farms as part of a new marketing strategy.
"Today marks a major milestone in the company's progress towards being a marketing-focused exporter."
Trading conditions in the first six months of the current year had been generally favourable, although this was largely due to higher throughput and processing of capital stock "which is not conducive to the ensuing years' lamb crops".
PPCS reported a net loss before tax of $40.8 million for the year ending August 31, 2007.
Returns continued to be impacted by a high dollar, Hart said.
"This week has seen the NZ dollar reach record post-float highs against the US dollar," he said. "That currency impact cannot be ignored in livestock pricing."
Chief executive Keith Cooper said a re-positioning plan this year included changes to procurement models, implementation of a project to align processing capacity to livestock and exiting non-core businesses, while becoming a truly marketing-focused company. PPCS director Eoin Garden was appointed to replace Hart as chairman.
