A large grain harvest and higher export volumes have boosted GrainCorp's full-year profit, but the crop in the year ahead is expected to be substantially smaller due to prolonged dry weather.
The grains handler and malt producer made a net profit of $125.2 million in the year to September 30, up from $31 million a year earlier.
Underlying net profit, which excludes one-off items, more than doubled to $142 million.
Chief executive Mark Palmquist said it was a near-record crop in eastern Australia in 2016/17, and GrainCorp Malt experienced solid demand from craft beer makers and distillers.
"Across our grains businesses, we benefited from increased storage, handling and merchandising opportunities, aided by the large harvest," he said on Tuesday.
"We successfully executed a large grain export program despite persistently high global crop supplies and depressed grain prices, which continued to be a headwind for Australian growers."
But GrainCorp says the crop in the current fiscal year is expected to be substantially smaller in eastern Australia.
The company is planning for a decline in receivals following a small harvest in Queensland and northern NSW.
Production will be skewed to Victoria and southern NSW, where GrainCorp's market share is traditionally lower.
The company expects grain exports in 2017/18 will be well below average.
Mr Palmquist said it will be a challenging year for GrainCorp's grains business, but the company has made significant progress on improving network efficiency and controlling costs.
Forecasters are predicting a total east coast Australian winter grains crop of 16.2 million metric tonnes, down from 27.2mmt in 2017.
GrainCorp said it is too early to estimate the size of the summer crop, but rainfall in October has helped with plantings.
Despite the company's strong profit growth, shares in GrainCorp dropped 42 cents, or 4.9 per cent, to a six week low of $8.13.
Mr Palmquist also said that rising energy costs continue to be a serious challenge for the long-term sustainability of food and malt processing in Australia.
GrainCorp is evaluating various energy efficiency and alternative generation options to mitigate volatile energy prices.
"This is important to remain internationally competitive," he said.
NEAR-RECORD CROP BOOSTS GRAINCORP'S PROFIT:
* Full-year profit of $125.2m, up from $30.9m
* Revenue up 10pct to $4.58bn
* Fully-franked final dividend up 11.5 cents to 15 cents.
