Rabobank NZ, which says loans to dairy farmers comprise more than half its total loan portfolio, is warning "very low" dairy prices for an extended time would see its loan defaults rise and potentially lead to higher loan loss provisions.
The specialist rural lender outlines this in its latest General Disclosure Statement.
"Since 30 June 2015 dairy commodity prices have fallen sharply from already low levels. Farm gate milk prices are now at their lowest levels since 2002. Loans to dairy farmers make up more than 50% of the Bank's overall ($9.314 billion) loan portfolio. Very low prices for an extended period would increase dairy farm loan defaults and the potential for higher loan loss provisions in the Bank's dairy portfolio," Rabobank says.
This comment comes after Fonterra recently cut its farmgate milk price forecast for the current season by $1.40 to $3.85 per kilogram of milksolids. Fonterra is also offering farmers interest free loans with Dairy NZ estimating the average farmer needs a milk price of $5.40, which is $1.55 higher than Fonterra's forecast, to breakeven.
Ironically, Rabobank also says during July it received repayments from a number of individually impaired clients that will "significantly" reduce its impaired asset balance.
*This is an abridged version of this story. The full version was published in our email for paying subscribers on Wednesday morning. See here for more details and how to subscribe.
6 Comments
No longer guaranteed by their Dutch parent either. One imagines rational investors will not be rushing to invest in their term deposit offers over 1 year duration then?
They are hardly offering much of a premium on their longer term deposits considering the risks that they have just fessed up to....
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