Seeka completes further Northland Orchard sales

24 February 2020

Seeka completes further Northland Orchard sales
Seeka Limited [NZX:SEK] advises that it has today completed further property sales of its Northland
orchard portfolio totalling $10.1m. The sales completed today brings the total gross sales completed
to date to $51.7m and the gain on sale to $6.1m. Seeka notes that the adoption of NZ IFRS 16 Leases
has the impact of reducing the reported gain on sale by $1.3m to that which would have been
reported pre NZ IFRS 16 Leases. All sales to date have included a term supply commitment back to
Seeka.
The strategy of divesting the Northland orchards with committed supply was enacted when Seeka
purchased the Northland kiwifruit orchards and related post-harvest business from T&G Horticulture
in April 2018 for approximately $40m. Since that acquisition, Seeka has embarked on a strategy of
refurbishing the orchards and sale with committed supply, alongside a significant rebuild of the post-
harvest facility with $27.4m invested in the facility to date including original acquisition costs. This
investment has created a world class post-harvest facility in Northland handling kiwifruit, avocados
and citrus. The company has received strong local support and increased demand for its services as a
result.
Seeka advises it still has a small number of Northland orchards to sell and is working through the
process with the expectation to substantially complete the strategy in 2020.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce debt. At December 31 2019, net debt totalled
$116.8m and this will be reduced by the $10.1m completed today and another $4.95m from an
unrelated unconditional sale which settles on April 9 and was included in the 2019 Financial
Accounts.
Seeka advises that it continues to work through its Australian orchard sale and lease back project
and will report in due course.
Seeka expects to announce its full year 2019 audited Financial Statements on 26 February 2020.

Ends:
For further information please contact:
Michael Franks Seeka Chief Executive 021 356516
Stuart McKinstry Seeka Chief Financial Officer 021 2215583