ABB Declares A$21.3M Profit

SYDNEY - Jun 1/05 - SNS -- The Australian barley marketing board, ABB Grain Ltd, declared a net profit after tax of $21.3 million for the six months ending 31 March 2005.

In making the results announcement, ABB managing director Michael Iwaniw said the company would pay a fully franked interim dividend of 8 cents per ABB B-Class share on 5 July, with a record date of 17 June.

The half-year results are inclusive of a full six months of operations for the businesses acquired through the company's merger with AusBulk Ltd on 27 September 2004, Iwaniw said.

"Grain production in the 2004-05 season was well below average in South Australia and Victoria, with grain receivals into our storage and handling network of just 4.2 million metric tons (MT), compared to the five year average of around 6.0 million MT," Iwaniw said.

"Looking ahead to the 2005-06 season, while the dry start to this year is not ideal there is still time for the new season (part of the 2006 financial year) to turn around. It's much too early for comments on what this season will mean for our next financial year, because the crop is not yet in the ground and the season has many months right through winter and spring to go."