Loading cattle on AA Co’s Canobie Station in northwest Qld

STRONG cattle market conditions and rising investor confidence in beef have delivered an $84 million rise in valuation for grazing property held by the world’s largest beef producer, the Australian Agricultural Co.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange this morning, AA Co reported the $84 million increase in land value across its northern land portfolio following an independent valuation by CBRE completed last month.

The revaluation reflects increased activity and sale prices for recent property sales in Northern Australia, the statement said.

The revaluation has increased the carrying value of the company’s land and buildings held at fair value by 15.8 percent, from $531 million at March 2015 to $615 million at March 2016.

AA Co’s net tangible assets at 30 September 2015 was $1.53 per share.  The increase in land and buildings represents an approximate 11 increase to NTA per share, after provisioning for notional capital gains tax.  NTA per share is influenced by many factors including land values, retained earnings, livestock values and liabilities, the AA Co statement said.

The 2016 full year NTA per share will be made available with the release of AA Co’s annual results for the year ended 31 March 2016 for the Australian Securities Exchange, expected in late May.

AA Co is the world’s largest integrated beef and cattle producer and the oldest continuously operating company in Australia. It owns and operates a strategic balance of 21 properties, feedlots and farms comprising around 70.000sq km of land in northern, central and southern Queensland and the Northern Territory.

• See this morning’s separate item on Paraway Pastoral Co’s 2015 financial year performance.
• AA Co shares were trading at $1.25 this morning, unchanged on Friday.

Sample of AA Co’s Darling Downs crossbred Wagyu brand, produced from calves bred on the company’s Barkly region properties.