‘The less tariffs the better’: GrainCorp boss Robert Spurway

The boss of Australia’s biggest agribusiness says it can take whatever comes its way amid Donald Trump’s tariffs warning, as annual profit tanks.

GrainCorp boss Robert Spurway says Australia’s biggest agribusiness will be able to handle any fallout if Donald Trump goes through with his tariff threats after reporting a 75 per cent drop in annual profit.

Mr Spurway said the $2bn grain receival and storagegroup is well set to deal with any adversity which may come out of Trump’s global tariff threats.

“Policy out of the US is unclear at the moment, but the less tariffs and the more certainty, the better,” he told The Australian.

The comments come after GrainCorp reported a 21 per cent drop in annual revenue to $6.51bn with net profit plunging to $61.8m from $249.7m last year, hit by a mixed east coast harvest, reduced demand and lower oil seed margins. To make matters worse, profit missed consensus estimates of around $68.4m.

Underlying earnings also fell 53 per cent to $267.8m for the year ended September 30 from $565.3m a year earlier.

GrainCorp shares closed 2.9 per cent lower to $8.59 in a fractionally higher market on Thursday.

GrainCorp saw profits and revenue sink on a mixed east coast harvest, set to reverse with the winter crop. Picture: Thierry Zoccolan/AFP

Mr Spurway said global food markets, and GrainCorp, held up well to recent disruptions caused by tariffs and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — which contributed around 10 per cent of the globe’s grain before the invasion — and could do so again.

“Food is very resilient because people need to eat. Global supply and demand is well-balanced,” he said.

“We’ve seen this before when tariffs were imposed on Australian barley by China. It disrupted trade routes … (but) it opened up new markets in the Middle East, Mexico and elsewhere.

“We’re very comfortable with our strategy, which is to overcome adversity with diversification.

“The Australian agricultural sector has generally been very successful with that, and GrainCorp is leading the charge.”

In its annual results statement, GrainCorp also revealed a strong core cash balance of $337m and a big drop in net debt to $99m from $373m a year earlier.

Mr Spurway said the company would focus on “the adjacencies” in regard to investment opportunities and GrainCorp’s own internal transformation, which it expects to add between $20m and $30m in earnings over coming years.

“We’re focusing on the processing and nutrition and energy sides of the business, we’re very clearly calling out a focus on our core assets. We do have an appetite for investment internationally, but we want to play in markets where we have a footprint.”

US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened huge tariffs against Chinese and Mexican goods, in particular. Picture: Mike Segar/AFP

On the year ahead, Mr Spurway said the company would see a reverse of the harvest just gone, with winter crops in Queensland and NSW coming earlier than recent years and showing signs of stronger yields. Victorian canola crop estimates, however, were 25 per cent lower year-on-year.

“The favourable conditions in northern regions and the earlier start to harvest is reflected in the 5.8 million tonnes of grain received into the GrainCorp network so far this season,” he said in a release accompanying the annual report.

“The year-on-year increase in volume of grain produced on the ECA provides the opportunity for improved export volumes in 2025. However, market dynamics are expected to impact margins, with Australian grain exports competing against a relatively strong supply of grains and oil seeds globally.”

The group said it would provide earnings guidance at its annual general meeting in February.

RBC analyst Owen Birrell was neutral on the results, with an outperform rating and a price target of $11.

GrainCorp declared a final dividend of 14c a share, plus a special dividend of 10c, both full franked. That takes the total for the 2024 financial year to 48c a share, down from 53c last year.

Originally published as ‘The less tariffs the better’: GrainCorp boss Robert Spurway