By Andy Young
GrainCorp’s Managing Director and CEO, Mark Palmquist, has highlighted that company’s malting business has delivered a strong performance in what was a challenging year for the company.
The company reported a slight drop in its statutory net profit after tax, down $1m on last year, to $32m. GrainCorp said that the growth in demand for craft beer helped the company, but predicted that it expects that growth to slow in 2017.
“Our diversified business model has allowed us to deliver a solid performance in the face of some significant external headwins,” Palmquist said. “These challenges have largely affected the grains and Oils businesses, however they have been partially offset by another strong performance from GrainCorp Malt.
“GrainCorp Malt continues to perform well with strong demand for specialty products delivering high capacity utilisation. The business remains well positioned for key customer segments and has made good progress with the expansion of the Pocatello facility and its craft distribution network.”
Part of that strong performance for GrainCorp Malt has come through the expansion of its North American network. The company has progressed the expansion of its distribution network that services the US craft beer sector from seven to 11 warehouses across North America.
In its statement to the ASX regarding its result GrainCorp added that there is “ongoing strong demand for speciality products in North American craft and global distilling markets, although the rate of craft growth is slowing.”
Earlier this month TheShout reported that both AB InBev and the US Brewers Association have highlighted the slowdown of the craft beer market in the United States.