19 Aug 2015

Does Landcorp need to sell land to remain viable?

From Nine To Noon, 9:16 am on 19 August 2015

The former head of the State Owned farming company Landcorp is rejecting any comparison of the company to the failed Solid Energy. Bill English yesterday indicated the government is concerned at Landcorp's debt levels, and said it may need to sell some of its non-core assets. Landcorp owns 122 farms totalling 376 thousand hectares around the country. The spotlight has come onto the company following Solid Energy's move into voluntary administration last week, and recent comments by Mr English about the vulnerability of other SOE's, including TVNZ, New Zealand Post, Kiwi Rail, The Public Trust, and Kordia. Chris Kelly is a former CEO of Landcorp, now Chancellor of Massey University and director of a number of agriculture-related businesses.