GRAINCORP is set for another profitable year as bumper harvests continue to fill the company's storages and coffers.
While receivals will be down as much as 23 per cent from last year's huge but flood-damaged harvest, the company expects net profits to at least match last year.
Net profit after tax for the year to September 30, 2012, would be $165-185 million, compared to $172 million in 2010-11, GrainCorp chief executive Alison Watkins told the company's annual meeting in Sydney last week.
Grain receivals for 2011-12 are expected to be between 11.5-12.5 million tonnes. A record carry-in of 6 million tonnes from last harvest would provide a boost to storage and handling fees, Ms Watkins said.
GrainCorp had maintained its market share, handling about 60 per cent of eastern Australia's crop and would deliver a second consecutive year of above-average exports, with seven million tonnes of grain shipments booked.
"After a record 2011 financial year, 2012 will be another year of high volumes and earnings, demonstrating that the fundamentals and underlying performance of the business are strong," Ms Watkins said.
While grain quality had improved this harvest, with much less flood-damaged grain, the proportion of high-protein wheat was still less than in an average year, she said.
The company's malting business was performing strongly despite a world trend to lower beer consumption.
Ms Watkins said the large amount of grain being handled should not affect the coming harvest. "If extra capacity is needed, temporary bunker storages can be added quickly and cheaply," she said.
Flooding in NSW and Queensland had hit some storages, particularly the Merrywinebone facility in NSW. But grain losses were expected to be modest and were insured, she said.
There would be no problem handing the expected one million tonne sorghum crop.
