The Mt Gambier timber group’s announcement of a share buyback and a pledge to improve returns from its plantation assets have caused Auspine shares to jump by more than 5%.
In the year under review, revenue was up 1.7% to A$209.6m although earnings before interest and tax declined by A$1m to A$18.7m. The company blamed reduced plantation valuation income which fell from A$19m to A$1.4m for the drop in earnings before interest and tax.
Chairman Geoff Hill said Auspine would simplify its business and concentrate on sales of house framing timber and woodchips. This, he said, would lead to significant capital expenditure over the next three years, with susbtantial upgrades of the company’s processing plants already on the drawing board.
The viability of a biomass-fuelled power station at Tarpeena is also being investigated.
