Elders Limited, formerly known as Elder, Stirling & Co., Elder Smith and Co. and Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, is an Australian agribusiness that provides agricultural goods and services to primary producers in Australia.

History

Early history (1839–1939)

With the fledgling colony of South Australia only three years old,

Alexander Lang Elder Alexander Lang Elder (18 April 1815 – 5 September 1885) was a Scottish Australian businessman and politician in colonial South Australia. Biography Elder was the second son of George Elder of Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, by Joanna Haddo, his ...

Fayette Gosse
'Elder, Alexander Lang (1815–1885)'
, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 133–134. Retrieved on 11 July 2009. arrived in Port Misery (now Port Adelaide) in January 1839 aboard the family-owned schooner ''Minerva'' as the only cabin passenger, under Captain David Reid. He went there to set up business and explore opportunities for his family's Scottish-based merchant and shipping business. Alexander's brothers, William,Fayette Gosse
'Elder, William (1813–1882)'
, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 133–134. Retrieved on 11 July 2009. George,Fayette Gosse
'Elder, George (1816–1897)'
, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 133–134. Retrieved on 11 July 2009. and

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Fayette Gosse
'Elder, Sir Thomas (1818–1897)'
, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 133–134. Retrieved on 11 July 2009. joined Alexander. Out of the four of them, only Thomas stayed in Australia. Thomas moved to Adelaide in 1854 and worked with George for a year. After George left, Thomas formed Elder, Stirling & Co with Edward Stirling,

Robert Barr Smith Robert Barr Smith (4 February 1824 – 20 November 1915) was an Australian businessman and philanthropist in Adelaide, South Australia. He was a partner in Elder Smith and Company from 1863 (now now Elders Limited). Early life and education Smi ...

, and John Taylor. On Stirling and Taylor's retirement in 1863, Barr Smith and Thomas Elder formed Elder Smith and Co. In 1888 Elder Smith and Co. was amalgamated with its subsidiary Elder's Wool & Produce Co. Ltd, and Peter Waite became the chairman of directors of the new company, which was called Elder Smith & Co. Ltd. Now in his eighties, Barr Smith launched Elders Trustee and Executor Limited and formed Elders Metal and Mercantile in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Elders profits more than doubled from 1918 to 1928, with Peter Waite as chairman until his death in 1922, followed by

Tom Elder Barr Smith Thomas Elder Barr Smith (8 December 1863 – 26 November 1941) was a South Australian pastoralist and philanthropist. Tom Barr Smith was born in Woodville, South Australia, the son of Robert Barr Smith, and his wife Joanna Lang, ''née'' Elder ...

, son of Robert. In 1929 Walter Bagot, of Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne Smith designed the Elders

Currie Street Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

National wool revenues increased 29% and 64% respectively in the first two full years of peace. In the early 1950s, Norman Giles moved from the Elders WA branch of the company to the Adelaide branch, and two years later became managing director. In 1962 Giles announced the merger of Elder Smith and Goldsbrough Mort with its new corporate headquarters located in Adelaide. In 1970, Giles expanded Elders into Gove Alumina and Robe River mining ventures and launched Elders Finance and Investment Co. Sir Norman Giles retired in 1975 after 54 years with Elders.

Structural changes and expansion beyond agriculture (1970–2009)

In 1976 Elders acquired Pitt Son & Badgery Ltd, a Sydney-based former subsidiary of the Scottish-Marra group. In 1982 Elders merged with jam maker

Henry Jones IXL Henry Jones IXL was a company primarily known as a manufacturer of jams, conserves and sauces in Australia. The brand was owned and its products manufactured by SPC Ardmona from 2004, which was itself owned by Coca-Cola Amatil from February 20 ...

to become Elders IXL. The following year, Elders launched a successful takeover bid for Carlton and United Breweries, which it renamed to Elders Brewing Group. In 1989, due to an economic downturn, Elders sold

The J.M. Smucker Co. The J.M. Smucker Company, also known as Smuckers, is an American manufacturer of food and beverage products. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the company was founded in 1897 as a maker of apple butter. J.M. Smucker currently has three major bus ...

, was renamed Elders Pastoral, and became a division of its subsidiary Foster's. In 1993, after being renamed Elders Limited, Elders was floated from Foster's, after which it acquired the

Australian Agricultural Company The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) () is a public-listed Australian company that, as at 2018, owned and operated feedlots and farms covering around of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, roughly one percent of Australia's la ...

. Two years later, Futuris Corporation, a major shareholder in Elders, became the new owner of Elders Limited. In 1997, Elders launched Australian Wool Handlers as a joint venture, a wool handling and dumping company that quickly became responsible for more than 60% of the national clip. In 1999 Elders Finance was sold to New Zealand-based company

Hanover Finance Hanover Finance was a New Zealand non-bank finance company that focused on lending for high-risk property development that failed in 2010 under the leadership of Mark Hotchin. At the time of its failure it was the largest finance company in Ne ...

after Elders had sold this business to NZ based investors who took on $20 million of liabilities. In 2009, Futuris Corporation changed its name to Elders Limited, and changed from its conglomerate holding company structure to a single integrated company with an owner-operated focus around its principal business Elders. In 2013 Elders returned to a

pure play A pure play company focuses solely on a particular product or activity. Investing in a pure play company can be considered as investing in a particular commodity or product of a company. Pure play firms either specialize in a specific niche, or hav ...

agribusiness by selling and divesting the last portions of its Forestry and Automotive divisions.

Return to pure play agribusiness (2013–2019)

In May 2014, Mark Allison was appointed CEO. Central to Allison's restructure of Elders was an Eight Point Plan, which outlined an aspirational target of returning Elders to sustainable earnings growth by FY17. In 2016, Elders acquired 20% of Elders Insurance from QBE and 30% of StockCo. In 2017, Elders divested its live export division, North Australian Cattle Company (NACC) and Indonesian Feedlot and Abattoir, re-allocating capital to a number of new acquisitions including horticultural inputs and services provider Ace Ohlsson and Kerr & Co Livestock. 2017 also saw Elders complete the buyback of preferential hybrid shares. In December 2017 Elders paid its first dividend to shareholders in nine years and achieved a market capitalisation of $850 million, referred to as "one of the biggest turnarounds in Australia’s corporate history". In May 2018, Elders acquired Titan Ag, a manufacturer and supplier of agricultural chemicals. Elders began its acquisition of direct competitor Australian Independent Rural Retailers (AAIR) in July 2019 after making an AUD187 million offer.

Main operations

Rural products

Elders is a significant supplier of farm inputs to primary producers in Australia. Products include seeds, fertiliser, agricultural chemicals, animal health products and general rural merchandise. The company also supplies professional and technical services to the rural sector via a network of agronomists.

Agency services

Elders provides a range of services to assist primary producers with the sale of wool, grain and livestock. The company's network of livestock agents and employees operates across Australia, with operations including livestock auctions (both physical and online), and direct sales to feedlots and livestock exporters. Elders has historically been one of Australia's largest agents for the sale of greasy wool. The company also operates a brokering service for woolgrowers and a grain marketing business.

Real estate services

Elders provides real estate services from around 24,981 branches across Australia. Rural agency services are primarily involved in the marketing and sale of farms, stations and lifestyle estates. Residential real estate services, including agency and property management, operate in major population centres and regional areas through a network of company-owned and franchised offices. Elders is also involved in mortgage and water broking.

Financial services

Elders offers a range of banking and insurance services from branches across Australia.

Feed and processing services

Elders operates the Killara feedlot located south of Tamworth in New South Wales. The company also imports, processes and distributes premium Australian meat in China.

Australian Independent Rural Retailers (AIRR)

In July 2019, Elders announced the acquisition of AIRR, an unlisted public company, for $187 million. AIRR was established in 2006 as an independent buying and marketing group for rural merchandise and pet and produce stores. The business has around 240 independent member stores plus 100 Tuckers Pet & Produce stores across Australia. The acquisition was finalised on 13 November 2019.

Thomas Elder Markets

Thomas Elder Markets (TEM) was established in July 2020 to provide objective and independent analysis on agricultural commodity markets. This unit was set up with leading Australian commodity analysts Andrew Whitelaw and Matt Dalgleish, formerly of Mecardo. The TEM analysis business is one of the first of its kind to have an independence charter to ensure the independence of any work produced The Thomas Elder Markets website has produced 492 articles between August 2020 and July 2021 which are freely accessible to agricultural stakeholders, these include 205 grain and oilseed, 53 fibre, 190 livestock and 44 other

Financial results

Half year results FY21

Elders released its half-year results for the six months to 31 March 2021 reporting statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of $68.2 million and underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $73.8 million, a 40% increase on 1H20. Elders also announced a partially franked (20%) interim dividend of 20c per share, up from 9c (fully franked) at the previous half year. Elders’ Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Mark Allison attributed the strong financial results during the period to the achievement of a number of key strategic initiatives. “Elders’ recent acquisitions, backward integration strategy and customer focus combined with the resilience of our supply chains positioned us well to capitalise on favourable growing conditions and livestock prices,” Mr Allison said.

Financial year ending 30 September 2019

On 11 November 2019, Elders Limited released its full-year results to the Australian Securities Exchange. Underlying after-tax profit of $63.6 million was reported, in line with the previous financial year. Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) fell marginally to $73.7 million. The company declared a final, fully-franked dividend of 9 cents per share, taking the full-year dividend to 18 cents fully franked. The result was against a backdrop of drought affecting much of Australia, with the strong financial performance attributed to Elders' diversification across different regions and multiple products and channels.

Social responsibility

In 2016 Elders partnered with the North Queensland Cowboys National Rugby League team, producing a series of television advertisements and community initiatives to raise awareness and break the stigma of mental health. This program ended in 2018. Following the Sir Ivan bushfire in June 2017 which burned more than 55 000 hectares of western NSW farmland in a single day, many Elders teams gave up time to contribute to a fencing day restoring damaged property. The project was conducted in collaboration with longstanding client Ant Martin of Dalkeith Herefords, whose properties were hit particularly hard by the bushfire. Elders also raised funds for the NSW Farmers Merriwa Sir Ivan Bushfire Appeal. Elders Give It is a community giving program raising funds for not-for-profit organisations that support rural communities. Current partners of Elders Give It include the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Landcare Australia and Beyond Blue. In April 2017 Elders on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula raised $25,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and in November of the same year became a major sponsor of the Flying Doctor unveiling a new aircraft bearing the Elders logo, part of a three-year $300,000 sponsorship. In March 2018 in Queensland, Elders Clermont raised more than $20,000 for Beyond Blue at a charity gala. In FY2019, Elders made donations, support and contributions valued at $1.3 million to community projects including sporting teams, schools and rural charities.

Awards

National Safety Council of Australia – Judges’ Choice Award for Excellence in Workplace Health and Safety 2015 Turnaround Management Association – Large Business Turnaround of the Year 2015 Elders Insurance – Canstar – Outstanding Value (Landlord Insurance) 2017 Korn Ferry Employee Engagement Awards – Outstanding Employer 2017 and 2019 Governance Risk and Compliance Institute – Team of the Year (Elders Financial Planning) 2018 Elders Real Estate – Canstar Blue – Most Satisfied Customers 2019