Certified Organics Changes Name
cer group LIMITED
CERTIFIED ORGANICS LIMITED CHANGES
NAME TO CER GROUP LIMITED
NEW POSITIONING REFLECTS
DEVELOPMENTS IN COMPANY’S UNDERLYING BUSINESS
Statement made by David Warrick, Managing Director, CER Group Limited
Certified Organics Limited (Certified Organics) has announced today at its Annual General Meeting that it has changed its trading name to CER Group Ltd (CER Group). The stock exchange code will remain CER.
CER Group represents the corporate centre of the company, which operates two distinct business streams:
- the
Interceptor range of weed killing products; and,
- New
Zealand Nature, an e-commerce and catalogue retailing and
direct marketing company.
With the acquisition of New Zealand Nature Company (NZ Nature) in August 2005 and changing market opportunities for the Interceptor™ range, the directors of Certified Organics identified that the existing holding company name no longer reflected the fundamentals of the business.
The decision also followed a review of the value and connotations of the term “certified organics”. Recent experience shows that the commercial agricultural and government biohazard markets where the Interceptor range has found success places little value of the “organic” nature of the product.
In addition, the Certified Organics name did not provide a suitable umbrella for the NZ Nature business. Going forward the directors felt the continued use of Certified Organics would not assist stakeholders, such as investors and business partners, to have a full understanding of our diversity.
CER Group provides a new vehicle with which to continue the growth of the business, which has enjoyed excellent results over the last 12 months. The combination of success for Interceptor in Australia and its potential in other global markets, and the contribution of revenues from NZ Nature since acquisition, are encouraging for shareholders. They also illustrate the benefits of changes made to the Certified Organics’ business in the last 18 months, including the appointment of new directors and the implementation of a new marketing strategy.
It was also announced at the AGM that CER Group expects to post its first annual profit this year. This announcement takes into account the implementation of new International Financial Reporting standards, which eliminate the requirement to amortise goodwill and, therefore, allow CER Group to declare “clean” results.
ENDS