a2 Milk Company largest agribusiness listed on ASX
The share price of The a2 Milk Company has held up against a plummeting Australian Securities Exchange index, resulting from the coronavirus scare.
AUSTRALIA’S top ASX-listed agribusiness has defied the share market turmoil of the past three weeks.
With the All Ordinaries index plummeting 18 per cent since February 21, The a2 Milk Company’s share price has held steady in the same period.
In fact, for two weeks to the end of last week, a2 Milk climbed to its second highest price level before falling about 9 per cent in the past few days when the ASX All Ordinaries went into free fall as a result of the coronavirus scare.
A New Zealand infant formula and fresh milk manufacturer, The a2 Milk Company is the ASX’s largest agribusiness by market capitalisation, with a valuation of about $11 billion after early trading yesterday, well ahead of the second biggest business, Treasury Wine Estates on about $6.5 billion.
AgJournal magazine today ranks the top 50 ASX-listed agribusiness companies based on their market capitalisation.
Collectively, the top 50 companies were valued at about $36 billion yesterday, about $7 billion less than what they were worth a month ago before the coronavirus scare damaged the sharemarket.
The top 50 companies include 10 dairy businesses, including another NZ dairy operation, Synlait Milk, and the largest Australian milk company, Bega Cheese.
The a2 Milk Company is 12 times the market capitalisation of Bega Cheese, despite relatively similar sales revenue.
The size of a2 Milk is driven largely by investors viewing it as a market darling, boosting its share price beyond rational levels. It is now about twice the market capitalisation of Fonterra, regarded as one of the top 10 dairy businesses in the world by sales revenue.
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