The Chairman made the following statement:

“Ladies and Gentlemen

Before I propose the adoption of the annual financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2010, I wish to make some comments on the past year’s activities.  Thereafter I will request our MD Guy Clarke to give you a brief review of the agricultural environment and the company’s operations and prospects for the 2010/11 financial year.

The annual financial statements clearly set out the financial results of operations for the past year.  They also set out agricultural statistics in considerable detail.  The Chairman’s Statement comments on strategic matters and the Group Managing Director’s Review comments on operational issues.

Good progress was made during the year on the group’s strategic priorities.  The key features of the past financial year are set out on page 4 of the Annual Report.  I will briefly comment on these items.

Firstly the acquisition of the 438ha cane farm in Southern Zambia has proved successful and the results to date confirm our assessment of the potential of this area.  We will continue to explore opportunities in this country.

Secondly it is pleasing to report that the sale of the Komatipoort Estate to the State has now been concluded and the purchase price paid subsequent to the year-end.  However we continue our legal action to recover the interest due in terms of the agreement.

Thirdly we exited the citrus operations at Riversbend and leased the farm to Tongaat Hulett Sugar on a long-term lease.  This had a one off unfavourable impact on the year’s results.  We also sold Cedars farm to the State.

Fourthly we commenced our joint venture with the KwaCele community on the previously owned Langespruit farm outside Stanger.  I am pleased to be able to report that this venture continues to operate successfully.

Fifthly we have continued to evaluate the potential for the exit from the Renishaw and Clansthal farms.  As I reported last year this is a complicated long-term project with the involvement of many important stakeholders.  The current extremely depressed property market has not aided the project.  Unresolved and uncertain land claims also add to the complications.  Regrettably the marginal farming viability of these dry land cane farms is also complicating the process.

Large scale agricultural production has many risks and is not for the faint hearted.  The Group’s Risk Management strategy is to mitigate the major risks by spreading operations over different geographical locations, products and markets.  However the group is always exposed to weather, market and price fluctuations and foreign exchange risks.  All these regrettably had an unfavourable impact on the past year’s results and particularly the apples, citrus and grain operations.  The final result was a disappointing reduction in headline earnings per share from 357.1cents to 89.9 cents.  Considerable information is provided in the segmental analysis on page 40 of the Annual Report and elsewhere in the attached reports.  Guy Clarke will also comment further on operational results and issues.

Lastly I would like to comment on the current uncertain agricultural land ownership policy in South Africa - this is an ongoing concern for your board.  Unfortunately the State’s land ownership and agricultural financing policies are far from clear and this uncertainty is having a detrimental impact on food production and declining employment in the agriculture sector in South Africa.  Agricultural ventures are long term in nature and require considerable financial investment and skilled management and consequently careful consideration is required to invest in this industry and given the material risks involved acceptable returns are necessary.  The current political indecision can only add to industry problems.  This lack of direction has impacted the development of the Group’s farm management activities and I assure our shareholder’s that this is top of the mind in the board’s strategic decision making process.