BEN CEO comments on earlier AFR article.., page-2

Accounting for these unrealised "profits" in the results should be enough grounds to finally sack Hirst. He is nothing but in over his head and has been so for many years. Anyone who has ever valued inventory knows that the "lower of cost or net realisable value" is the gold standard. What Ben has done under Hirst's watch is fudging the books. Before you call me an imbo let me share this bit: If the real estate market in Sydney and Melbourne had corrected by 15%, BEN would have had to reverse all these "profits" and in some cases book a loss. This could have spooked a downgrade and a disaster for the shareholders.
Point is: no responsible organisation should do this. It is simply misleading the market and if the analysts had not picked it up, then Hurst would have continued to pay a dividend on unrealised profits. Sack him and find a responsible and competent leader.