Agribusiness investment up 15 per cent

The agribusiness sector has raised capital of $345 million in the financial year 2002/2003, representing a 15 per cent increase on the previous year, according to a comprehensive review released by theAustralian Agribusiness Group.

The review, which surveyed 43 of 45 projects, also showed that the 2003 projects will generate $1.8 billion of taxable income, up slightly from $1.7 billion, with investors to receive $150 million in tax refunds for their support of the schemes.

AAG research manager Tim Lee says that the results indicate that consumer confidence in the sector is returning.

“Hopefully we’ve turned the bottom of the curve and things are getting better,” he says.

However there was a sharp contraction in the number of agribusiness projects seeking capital for the period under review, falling to 45 from 68 in the previous year.

AAG attributes this reduction to increased regulatory scrutiny by theAustralian Securities and Investments Commissiondue to a change in the interpretation of PS 170 during the financial year, and the slow release of product rulings by theAustralian Taxation Office, thought to have delayed the release of new projects and deterred new providers from entering the sector until the tax implications were confirmed.

The review also covered project types, with timber projects proving most popular by far, representing 73 per cent of the capital raised from 49 per cent of the projects, followed by wine/grape, olive and other projects.