Daily Brief Australia: Empire Energy, Ricegrowers Ltd and more

In today’s briefing:

Empire Energy Group Ltd – The science says potential water impacts likely minor

RaaS has published a flash comment on NT-focused gas explorer/producer Empire Energy Group (ASX:EEG) following the recently released findings of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee (IESC) on unconventional gas in the Beetaloo which has assessed the potential environmental impact and risk on water resources to be ‘minor’ if appropriate mitigation strategies are implemented.
The article published on the NT News website, also references comments from the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCEEW) which concluded that exploration work (to date) did not meet the legal threshold of being a matter of national environmental significance to be assessed under national environmental law.
In our view, these findings from both assessments are positive for operators with respect to current gas development plans and potential future phases of gas expansion.

RaaS interviewed Ricegrowers Group CFO Dimitri Courtelis following the company’s H1 FY25 results.
This is a full transcript of the interview.

RaaS has published an update on and interview with FMCG agri-group Ricegrowers which trades as SunRice (ASX:SGLLV) following the release of its interim report last week in which it delivered RaaS-adjusted EBITDA of $67.9m (+10%) in line with our forecasts and NPAT of $31.2m (+4%), below our forecasts due to a higher than expected tax rate (28% vs our 22%).Branded sales represent ~70% of total SGLLV sales, with the benefits of new brands, brand extensions and increased ranging evident in the H1 FY25 result.
Across Rice Food, Riviana and CopRice EBITDA growth far outpaced revenue growth, with EBITDA margins for Rice Food +400bps, +330bps for CopRice and +140bps for Riviana.
SGLLV added SavourLife and Simply Delish to the portfolio over the half and can be expected to add and extend further brands in pursuit of its 2030 revenue target of $3.0b.

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