Agriterra

Controversial cattle and grain trading business Agriterra offers growth opportunities for strong-nerved investors.

Formerly Sudanese oil explorer White Nile and headed by former England cricketer Philip Edmonds, chairman, Agriterra operates a number of agricultural projects in Mozambique, including two grain buying and processing facilities and a cattle ranching and feedlot business.

Agriterra's cattle business owns 21,000 hectares of land at two locations in Mozambique and the plan is to expand the total herd from 720 to 10,000 by 2013. Meanwhile, the grain business includes a facility in Western Mozambique with a 50,000 tonne storage capacity, as well as another buying and processing facility known as Compagri and based at Tete in North West Mozambique. Compagri, closed from March following a local ‘labour dispute’, has recently re-opened under new management.

Zimbabwean-born executive director Euan Kay concedes that investors might be put off by the company’s ‘swashbuckling past’, which includes deals with the Mugabe government through Edmonds' ex-mining outfit Central African Mining & Exploration Company (CAMEC). Under its previous guise as White Nile, the group was forced to abandon operations and given one week to leave the country following a dispute with the authorities in Sudan.

Though Agriterra’s losses widened from US$562,000 to US$1.97m (£1.3m) on $2.5m revenue in the half to November, the company does boast extensive land assets, a cash generative grain business and clear expansion plans. As such, the shares could reward a punt, but they are most definitely not for widows and orphans.