CBH has released its 2015 Annual Report indicating a $82.7million profit.
It has also listed a loss of $16.7m in its marketing and trading operations, tying this to a tough global market.
Rebates to growers total $1.5 per tonne this year including an operations rebate of 85 cents per tonne and an investment rebate of 20 cents per tonne.
CBH chairman Wally Newman said the board had invested $177.4 million in capital expenditure and maintenance on the network, as well as executing a number of new growth opportunities in 2015 with the launch of CBH Fertiliser, the acquisition of Blue Lake Milling and opening an office in Russia.
“We’ve focused on lowering our costs to serve, driving better prices and generating greater returns from investments,” Mr Newman said.
“The continued investment in the network is certainly paying off through efficiencies in the supply chain.
"We saw a record one million tonnes delivered to one site, Chadwick in the Esperance zone, largely because of these investments.
“We invested $51 million into our ports which play a significant role in ensuring WA growers remain competitive by being able to get their grain onto ships when their customers want it.
“The CBH Group also developed a network proposal to deliver an efficient and cost-effective network into the future which this year, during its final phase, will be tested to ensure this investment is being made in the most prudent way.”
CBH chief executive officer Andy Crane said the positive financial result was not only the product of a large crop but of a dedicated focus on managing costs and driving operational efficiencies.
“During 2015 we reconfirmed our purpose and set in place clear measures of performance that will ensure a continued focus on current and future generations of growers,” Dr Crane said.
“Our key measure of performance is the dollar per tonne charge for storage, freight and port fees minus rebates of charges generated from CBH’s other investments.
"This puts our growers and their competitiveness at the very centre of every decision we make.
“Last year we also implemented long term storage and handling agreements with 10 export marketers, providing them, and our growers, with certainty over supply and service.
"These agreements resulted in 10.2 million tonnes of capacity secured for five years.”
MORE TO COME.
