Listed agribusiness firm Timbercorp (ASX: TIM) has dropped almost 20 per cent in net profit for the 2007 year compared to the group's 2006 result.
Timbercorp recorded $65.714 million in 2007 full year net profit, 17.5 percent lower than the record profit of $79.614 million of 2006, the group's annual report said.
Meanwhile, profits from the group's financial services division increased with the loan book expanding to $390 million.
According to Timbercorp deputy chief executive Sol Rabinowicz, the group's future as a company lies in agribusiness and related assets just as much as it does the investment management sector.
"In 2008, a slowdown in capital asset growth and the planned sale of assets will further strengthen our cash position and will improve cash flows over the medium term," Rabinowicz said.
"We are currently developing new retail and wholesale investment products based on a blend of tax and non tax effective structures. These products are expected to be available from the 2009 financial year and will target Australian and overseas agribusiness assets."
In December last year Rabinowicz told InvestorDaily that the company would undergo a major shift in its business model with the group set to evolve into a broad based investment manager.
The shift is in response to managed investment scheme (MIS) regulatory uncertainty and other changes announced earlier this year, he said.
