ABB Records $36.2M Profit

SYDNEY - Nov 28/05 - SNS -- Australia's barley marketing board, recorded an A$36.2 million after tax profit for the year ending September 30, 2005.

In announcing the results, the company said it will pay a fully franked final dividend of 9.0 cents for each ABB B-class share on 23 February 2006, with a record date of 2 February 2006.

ABB's managing director, Michael Iwaniw, said, "The below average harvest we experienced last year meant receivals were down nationally, resulting in reduced profits.

"ABB's storage and handling receivals, at 4.2 million metric tons (MT) for the season, was significantly under the five-year average of 5.9 million MT and well below the previous year's intake (by AusBulk Ltd) of 6.5 million MT, which directly impacted on our results.

"Nevertheless, our first year as an enlarged entity, following the merger with AusBulk and United Grower Holdings, was successful with a number of highlights showing the value of diversifying our business and using to our advantage our geographic spread of operations," Iwaniw said.

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