pppls offer

"PPPL is proposing its revenue is derived from increasing its share of net harvest proceeds by between 2% and 34% depending on time to harvest" according to PPPLs announcement on Aug 14.

When I first saw that fee of 34% I got a shock since it is much larger than Great Southern's fee of 5.5%. However, I have done a back-of-the-envelope calculation to determine ballpark costs for the 2003 Plantations Project. Assuming the following -
(1) Maintenance = $270 per year per hectare
(2) Overhead = $270 per year per hectare
(3) Land Lease = $300 per year per hectare
(4) Project will be harvested in five years (in 2014)
(5) Return will be $3837 per woodlot

The cost over five years per woodlot is ((270 + 270 + 300) * 5) / 3 = $1400. If the expected return is $3837 then the costs equate to 36.4%.

This suggests then that the 34% fee is not exorbitant.

My figures for (1) - (3) above come from section 2.1 in an informative submission to the Inquiry into Agribusiness Managed Investment Schemes being conducted by the Senate. This report breaks down plantation costs for based on Great Southern's 2004 FY report. A link to this report is here -https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=42ccb955-e25f-4353-807e-0c3f4dce4bb5

The $3837 figure in (5) is based on the KPMG "Independent Expert Report" for the 2003 Plantations project issued as part of Project Transform. The report provides a harvest Low figure of $3620 and High figure of $4055. Taking the midpoint gives $3837.

Anyone else have any thoughts about the proposed fees at this point?