Elders chief executive Mark Allison says the rebuilt agricultural products group will be able to withstand the worst of the drought because of a sensible diversification strategy over the past few years and a sharp focus on costs.

The assumption that Elders would automatically suffer a large slide in profits because of drought conditions in NSW and parts of Queensland has been up-ended by the group, which experienced a robust rise in its share price on Monday after a solid full-year profit.