Ann: Wellard to raise $52 million, page-60

Hey mate, yep Mauro gave me a call and we spoke for about 1/2 an hour. Lovely guy, very conscious of the past results and very focused on turning it around. He was actually about to board a plane for another work trip.
My questions were:
Why did you choose to raise the money via convertible notes and shares instead of just shares?
This was done partly due to strong interest from some of instos in convertibles but also because it was a way of reducing dilution due to the higher conversion amount (28c) compared to the raise.

Are all major share holders on same page?
Paul Holmes a court and Mauro know each other but didn't know they were going to get involved. That said all major share holders have shown themselves to be very supportive.
Mauro made the point that he has lost more money on Wellard than anyone else and wants to turn that around, but also that there is a strong personal incentive to repair the family business due to strong family connection over 2 generations.

How far do cattle prices have to fall to make a difference?
Restored the base margin, cattle volumes just aren't enough, wet season got delayed
10-15% drop in price restores high profitablity, 12 months time herd will be substantially rebuilt. dramatic dry, dramatic wet. When China gets up and running they see substantially higher price tolerance from China and much higher revenues generally.

How is AUD affecting?
Mugs game predicting currency but they see AUD possibly dropping over next 12 months which would be highly beneficial.

With Buffalo imports do you see Indonesia dropping off as a market?
Doesn't seem to be affecting anything as of yet.

Other than price what do you see as fundamentally having to change to get back on track?
China getting up and running properly is mission critical for the business. They continue to take cost out of the business.

What timeframe are you aiming to turn the business around in?
The business still maintains a long term outlook given 35 years old, and cows take 9 months to give birth and seasons take a while to turn. In saying that it seemed to me to be a 2-3 year turn around plan.