ELD General Discussion, page-7

I remember it well and it was a mess to say the least and as a NED it was possibly the main reason Mark stepped in to the executive role from being a NED and in fact it was why he was probably the only person who could have pulled it out of the committed nosedive it was in at the time and his unrelenting conservative style and sticking to his Eight Point Plan that allowed Elders to endure the trip from then to now and actually survive and flourish. From a shareholder perspective it was a trip from 18 cents to $13 with a 10:1 consolidation in the early stages just after take-off.

Lest we not forget there was two other key persons in the early days who were supporters/backers and contributing participants all along the way and they were Hutch Ranck (departed Chairman) and Peter Hastings (with us today as Company Secretary & General Counsel).

The replacement for Mark will need to recognise history and not return and take the reins from Mark firmly and guide Elders in to a possibly new and different future but still with the same foundation as it has today - a diverse agribusiness with a good seasonal and segment risk spread.

Its previous competitor, Ruralco, now a dim memory under Canadain ownership and with the new inclusion of a piece of PGG Wrightson in NZ in its portfolio the future looks good, for the moment.