Ann: FY22 Earnings Guidance, page-3

Boom times.

The increase in NPAT for FY 22 compared to what was a pleasing FY 21 is estimated at between 69 and 101 per cent, a wide variance.

I am not an accountant but margins appear to have risen. The P/E ratio has become very low, especially compared to the general ASX market. Maybe the drop in the SP we've seen on some days recently bore little resemblance to the reality of rising earnings.

There is an on-market share buyback of up to $50 million that commences in 'early 2022', previously mentioned in the FY 21 annual report.

Going back into history, FY 17 was also regarded as a terrific year but FY 22 may exceed that. In the former, total dividends declared were A$0.30 so without becoming over exuberant we may be receiving total dividends of A$0.35 for the year. In FY 21 it was A$0.18 cents per share though.

Surprising to read that only 'minimal' supply chain issues have been encountered as one would have thought arranging sufficient bulk ships for the export trade would have been very challenging.

GNC's result is another reminder that it profits from handling, so even though a fair swathe of the NSW crop was disastrously rain-affected at harvest time, there's still a market (such as exporting to Japan) for lower quality grain.

Logically, we can't expect Canada or other areas to have another drought year, so that may see prices and worldwide demand ease at some stage. In terms of sabre rattling, my uninformed guess is that there won't be war between Russia and Ukraine and grain harvests there won't be badly affected by massing of troops on borders, but I'm not a geopolitical expert by any means.

Is it time for GNC to make a suitable, good fit, accretive acquisition?

It looks as if GNC will be very busy until Christmas, if not beyond.