STILL NO AACO DIVIDEND

AUSTRALIA’S biggest beef producer, AACo, has more than tripled its profit as red meat prices soar and restaurant trade fires up again – but the group’s lengthy dividend suspension remains.

AACo – which counts Andrew Forrest and the Holmes a Court family company Heytesbury Holdings as significant investors – has not made any dividend payouts since 2008, raising the ire of some shareholders at last year’s annual meeting.

The group owns about 1 per cent of Australia’s land mass and Donald McGauchie has chaired for all but two years of the dividend drought.

AACo shares fell 5.3 per cent to $1.78 on Thursday, compared with a 1.6 per cent drop across the broader sharemarket. This was despite its net profit soaring 201 per cent to $136.9m in the year to March 31.

CEO Hugh Killen deferred to Mr McGauchie when asked when AACo would start paying dividends again, but said: “We want to continue to invest back into the business.”

Meat and cattle sales are up, but AACo chief Hugh Killen says the company has more on its plate than paying dividends.