Webster (WBA)

Shares / Stock Code

WBA

Stock Exchange / Sharemarket

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Webster (WBA) is a food and agribusiness based company that produces and supplies fresh produce to Australia, Asia and the UK. It operates two business groups within its industry services: Bearings & Engineering Supplies and Transport & Machinery. The company was listed on Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) on 1 January, 1974.

Webster's business started in 1831, and the company began as a wool and produce broker. The company expanded its operations and services, and during the 1960s, established itself as a specialist in bearings and engineering supplies. In 2005, the company merged its Aquatas division with Tassal Group Limited to create Australia's largest aquaculture business. WBA shares are traded on the Australian stock market.

Webster is the dominant player in supply bearings and power transmission equipment in Tasmania, supplying 60% of the State's needs. Its Transport & Machinery department has exclusive franchise agreements with major brands. Major customers include retailers, agricultural businesses and construction companies. Its competitors are other suppliers of bearings and sellers of trucks and construction equipment.

The Company operates through two divisions: Horticulture and Aquaculture. The Horticulture division is involved in the growing, processing, packing and marketing of fruit, vegetables and nuts for export and domestic markets. The Aquaculture division is engaged in the production, processing, value adding and marketing of salmon for export and domestic markets. Its subsidiaries include Clements Marshall Consolidated Limited, Cygnet Canning Company Pty Ltd, Clements and Marshall Pty Ltd, Webster Fresh Partnership, Webster Finance Pty Ltd and Webster Walnuts Pty Ltd.

Webster Limited is Australia’s fourth oldest business. It started in 1831, just 28 years after the settlement of Van Diemen's Land, as a traditional pastoral house but is now a diversified food and agribusiness with a growing reputation locally and internationally for the quality of its natural produce.

Webster is already Australia’s biggest commercial walnut grower through its ownership or management of more than 2,000ha of orchards at Swansea on Tasmania’s East Coast and at Griffith and Leeton in NSW. It also owns the only Australian commercial walnut nursery at Forth on Tasmania’s North-West Coast.

In the 1960s, Webster also established itself as a specialist in bearings and engineering supplies. These industrial businesses operated as Webster Trucks & Machinery, and Webster Bearings and Engineering Supplies. In October 2007, Webster sold both industrial businesses to focus on its horticulture and aquaculture interests, being Field Fresh, Walnuts Australia and its strategic interest in Tassal Group Ltd.