WA fert company earnings dive - shareholders to vote on sacking CEO

Having just spent $4.5 million taking over the North Queensland-based nitrogen fertiliser business, LiquaForce, the Perth company has found earnings from its RLF sales in Asia and Australia have fallen about 42 per cent below expectations.

RLF has now taken the razor to its business costs, including staff numbers, to ride out the revenue shortfall.

The specialist fertiliser business also wants to raise $3m from investors, including company directors, to help pay for its LiquaForce acquisition.

One of the first cost cutting targets for RLF AgTech's unhappy board of directors was fellow board member, Ken Hancock, who became managing director a year before the company's 2022 share market listing.

Mr Hancock was effectively sacked at the start of June, but cannot be removed without a shareholder vote, unless he submits his resignation as a director before a July 26 general meeting.

Also a long-time chief with the 25-year-old foundation business, Rural Liquid Fertilisers, which distributes the RLF AgTech range across much of Australia, Mr Hancock's supposed conflict of interests have been cited by the board as one of the reasons he was asked to resign, several times.

Rural Liquid Fertilisers' Welshpool factory also makes the foliar fertiliser and seed treatment products developed by RLF AgTech for local and overseas markets.

The notice of general meeting has argued Mr Hancock's individual performance had become less than satisfactory in his global GM's role, including his apparent failure to report to the board in a timely and accurate manner, failing to respond to board directions, and contributing to the fall in RLF's financial and operational performance.

Mr Hancock has been invited to respond to the claims and speak at the July 26 meeting.

If his dismissal fails to get at least 50pc support from RLF AgTech's 500-plus shareholders (who hold 240m shares) he will stay a director, but his managing director's job has now been handed to fellow board colleague, Gavin Ball.

Mr Ball's early investment support helped RLF's four farmer founders build their Chinese factory and offshore market footprint 12 years ago.

RLF AgTech's soluble fertiliser products and integrated trace element management systems for crops are promoted as reducing the need for traditional broadacre fertilisers by about 20pc by boosting soil and plant health and improving carbon absorption.

By using its seed dressing and micronutrient-rich foliar products in their crop programs, farmers in Australia, China, Thailand and the Philippines have scaled back conventional applications of nitrogen, or phosphorus and potassium.

The company claims to have supplied about 3m customers.

However, the past financial year's revenue in China landed about 33pc below expectations at $8.5m, while the newly developing South East Asian market only generated about $460,000, or about 64pc less than forecast.

Mr Ball said while RLF had made solid progress in establishing a distribution base in the region, orders from April to June experienced manufacturing and shipping delays and did not translate into 2023-24 earnings as planned.

He noted farm inputs retailers across Asia had generally been tighter with their orders in 2023-24, restricting fertiliser and chemical buying, partly because they were caught with expensive agchem inventories as factory prices fell during the year.

At home, RLF also missed out on $1m revenue from a carbon farming trial it was intending to start on three WA properties, backed by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia which would pay for carbon credits generated.

The lower than expected cropper support for the WA carbon farming pilot also convinced the company to ditch plans to work directly with producers as a carbon project developer.

It will now team up with existing carbon project managers, providing products and cropping system expertise to farmers.

However, another Clean Energy Regulator-registered irrigated farmland carbon project at Hillston in southern NSW has gone to plan, with early results likely by December.

Meanwhile in Queensland, the newly acquired LiquaForce business at Ingham, would inject valuable cash flow into RLF's balance sheet, generating the bulk of the company's revenue this financial year.

LiquaForce has also provided a base from which to make RLF AgTech products in eastern Australia, complementing the WA operation.

Initial output from Ingham already includes orders for Vietnam.

LiquaForce's own nitrogen-based products are focused on cane and horticulture markets, but Mr Ball said RLF lines would now supplement that offering.

Back in Perth, RLF AgTech has also moved offices, breaking its shared accommodation ties with the Rural Liquid Fertilisers factory and distribution business to avoid further conflict of interest issues.

The looming shareholder meeting may prove a lengthy one with 14 resolutions on the agenda.

Aside from deciding Mr Hancock's fate, resolutions include ratification of the share offer, including shares to LiquaForce's founding Liddle family, approving existing directors Mr Ball and Liza Carpene to take up any shortfall in shares not bought in the public offer, and allowing online general meetings.