Highly Successful First Year For AtlasFram Group

AtlasFram Group, the UK’s largest farmer-owned farm inputs purchasing and crop
marketing business, achieved a turnover of 149.34 million during the 12-months
to 30th June 2009, its first year of operation.

Addressing members attending the Group’s Annual General Meeting in East Anglia,
Chairman Robert Rous said: “This places us in the highest bracket of like
businesses. Whilst turnover is not the ultimate measure of success for a company
which exists to purchase farm inputs/services as cheaply as possible, the
increasing commitment of our farmer members confirms that we are successfully
meeting their requirements and that they want to deal with us.

“Since the merger of Atlas Agriculture and Framlingham Farmers on 1st July 2008
we have achieved one of the key objectives for it, namely the ability to offer a
wider portfolio of products and services without increasing the cost of
membership. The value which we offer is underlined by the fact that during the
year almost 30 new members joined the Group, including a number of very large,
highly-commercial farming businesses. We now represent over 1000 members farming
more than 300,000 hectares throughout the UK, deal directly with 1400 suppliers
and market over 160,000 tonnes of our members’ combinable crops.

“In a year which was characterised by extreme volatility in farm input and
output prices, the AtlasFram Group achieved a surplus of 132,000, after tax.
Our wholly-owned subsidiary Framtrade Ltd continued to increase sales of bulk
and bottled LPG gas, fuel, electricity and stock items to the public and other
farming groups. The surplus directly benefits AtlasFram members and has
increased Group financial reserves to 2.35 million, which enables us to
maintain our excellent credit rating, maintains supplier confidence, provides
continuing access to credit account facilities and allows us to negotiate from a
position of financial strength. Suppliers are able and willing to offer us
better terms because we are a well-established, financially-secure business.”

Ian Watson, Chief Executive, added: “During the AtlasFram Group’s first year our
priorities were to retain existing members and levels of service, whilst
ensuring that suppliers continued to support us. Consequently, this has been a
period of consolidation in what has been a very challenging time for farmers.
However, despite unprecedented market volatility, we have still been able to
save members money on input purchases and offer expert advice to help them to
purchase inputs and market their combinable crops at the most opportune time,
which is becoming an increasingly important factor in farming profitably.

“That achieved, we are focusing on further developing the business to offer an
even higher level of service and enable our farmer/landowner members to achieve
optimum costs of production. The policy of working with independent agronomists,
where advice and supply are separated, continues to be very successful, keeping
us in close contact with the market and helping us to supply the right products
at the right price.

“The aim of the buying group is to purchase products as competitively as
possible and not be turnover-led. During the last 12 months we have conducted 45
price comparisons between non-Member and Member farms, which demonstrate savings
on inputs costs of 8%-21% for crop protection products, up to 10% on feed and
25% for dairy hygiene products. Members also enjoy considerable savings on
fertiliser and fuel, together with 5%-11% on cereal seed and up to 20% on maize
seed.  Additionally, very significant savings are available on machinery, spare
parts, feed, together with livestock requisites.

“Going forward, our objective is to be the leading agriculture services provider
in terms of customer service levels and member benefits, with a scale of
agricultural purchasing which exerts significant influence over national
markets. We also aim to develop our combinable crop services to enable us to
access preferential regional supply contracts and highly-competitive trading
services. AtlasFram Group also seeks to develop business partnerships with like-
minded groups and key suppliers to further benefit members.”

The AtlasFram Group was formed on 1st July 2008 following the merger of Atlas
Agriculture and Framlingham Farmers. At that time, the two businesses had a
combined turnover of more than 100 million and over 1000 Members throughout
East Anglia, the South East, Midlands, South West and North West

Established in 1960, Framlingham Farmers purchased agricultural inputs worth
approximately 70 million annually on behalf of 750 Members farming more than
120,000 ha and keeping 25,000 dairy cows in East Anglia, the South East, North
West and South West of England. The company also had a specialist Marketing
Department handling 180,000 tonnes of Members’ grain annually.

Atlas Agriculture was a farmer-owned buying group formed in 2004 following the
merger of Cambridge Farmers and West Essex Farmers, both of which had successful
40-year track records in the agricultural supply industry. Based at Dullingham
in Suffolk, Atlas Agriculture had 270 Members farming approximately 110,000 ha
in the East of England.