Units in dairy co-operative Murray Goulburn’s listed investment vehicle have plunged in early trading after Australia’s biggest dairy producer slashed its profit forecast and reduced payments to farmers.
Murray Goulburn also announced that managing director Gary Helou had been replaced in the wake of the disappointing trading update.
Units in MG Unit Trust were 76 cents, or 35.51 per cent, lower at $1.38 at 10.14am (AEST).
Murray Goulburn on Wednesday said it would borrow between $95 million and $165 million in the current financial year to pay a farmgate milk price to farmers of $5.47 per kilogram of milk solids.
That is below the $5.60 cited in Murray Goulburn’s first-half trading update in February, and way off the $6 targeted in the prospectus from July’s IPO for the MG Unit Trust.
Murray Goulburn also revised down its full-year guidance to between $39 million and $42 million, compared to its previous forecast of $63 million.
AAP