They are propping up the share price. They lost $7.7m after tax last year and even admitted that they added more employees to the business in the second half (which somehow the investment manager isn't paying for - what a shock!!) which means the loss would have been bigger if it was annualised. They paid $5m for 32% of Ferguson which has made losses in the first two years of being part-owned by Beston, and paid $12m for 20% of Neptune Bio-Innovations which has also made losses in the first two years of being owned by Beston. It will take something close to a miracle for there not to be an impairment on these at some stage - you can only rely on hockey stick forecasts for so long. They say mozzarella will be a big winner for them and they may be right, but I haven't heard about a mozzarella crisis or shortage - they will have to displace someone else and that normally doesn't mean big margins. The only real value in this business is the traceability IP - they just need someone to help commercialise it because their own product range is way too small.
BFC Price at posting:
21.0¢ Sentiment: Sell Disclosure: Not Held