Anthony Pratt

Visy’s Anthony Pratt named Australia’s wealthiest individual

The Australian has revealed Visy executive chairman and owner of Pratt Industries, Anthony Pratt is Australia’s wealthiest individual, with a fortune of $13.14 billion.

He is one of 250 people named in The List: Australia’s Richest 250, which will be published in The Weekend Australian tomorrow as a special magazine.

The list was curated and edited by wealth expert John Stensholt and a global team of researchers and journalists.

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The study reveals the entire fortune of Australia’s wealthiest 250 is $318.33 billion, with each member having an average of $1.27 billion. Included in the list are 96 billionaires, 15 people aged 40 and under and 27 females. The average age of members is 65, with 95-year-olds Len Ainsowrth (Associated World Investments, Sydney) and Marc Beseen (TarraWarra, Melbourne) the eldest named and 26-year-old Tobi Pearce (Sweat) the list’s youngest member.

Joining Pratt in the Top 10 is Hancock Prospecting chairman Gina Rinehart (65, Perth) who came in at number 2, with an accumulated wealth of $13.12 billion – a mere $20 million separating her from Pratt.

Meriton managing director Harry Triguboff (86, Sydney) is at number 3, with a fortune of $12.31 billion. More broadly, property dominates the majority of wealth, with 68 members making their fortune from the industry. Many members have also made their fortunes in industries such as transport and mining, before diversifying into residential and commercial property investments.

The list has been compiled using publicly available information. Public shareholdings are calculated on share prices up to 15 February 2019 and property values and purchase prices have been derived from several public sources. Price companies are valued using profit margins and various earnings ratios of comparable stock market listed competitors.

The List: Australia’s Richest 250
The Top 10

1.     Anthony Pratt and family ($13.14 billion)
2.     Gina Rinehart ($13.12 billion)
3.     Harry Triguboff ($12.31 billion)
4.     Mike Cannon-Brookes ($9.01 billion)
5.     Scott Farquhar ($9.01 billion)
6.     Frank Lowy ($8.92 billion)
7.     Hui Wing Mau ($8.63 billion)
8.     Andrew Forrest ($7.34 billion)
9.     Ivan Glasenberg ($6.76 billion)
10.  John Gandel ($6.22 billion)

CEFC invests $30M into Visy Industries

Packaging and resource recovery company Visy Industries plans to invest $30 million of Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) finance across a range of energy efficient, renewable and low-emissions technologies over the next four years.

Visy plans to use the funds to increase waste recycling and processing capabilities while also offsetting the impact of changes in the international recycling market.

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CEFC’s finance is part of a pipeline of potential projects to increase Visy’s manufacturing capacity to recycle waste materials by 10 per cent and improve the energy efficiency of the company’s large-scale manufacturing operations.

Visy’s pipeline includes better processing and sorting technology to increase the amount of material which can be recycled as well as increased energy generation to offset grid energy needs.

The company currently recycles 1.2 million tonnes of paper and cardboard each year and expects to increase its capacity by 10 per cent as a result of the $30 million investment program.

The CEFC aims to increase its investments in waste-related projects as part of its goal to reduce Australia’s overall emissions.

CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said Visy is a leader in recycling and the use of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies and that the CEFC was proud to work with the company to respond to the waste crisis.

“As a community, we need to reduce our overall waste as well as invest in more sustainable management of remaining waste. This includes extracting energy from non-recyclable waste to replace fossil fuels, as well as increasing our ability to recycle paper and packaging waste onshore,” Mr Learmonth said.

“As a major Australian manufacturer, Visy is also leading the way in investing in energy efficient equipment and technologies to help power its 24-hour operations. We see this as a model for other manufacturers grappling with high energy prices and commend Visy on its leadership.”

According to the International Energy Agency, Australia’s manufacturers are the most energy intensive in the world and accounted for around 40 per cent of natural gas consumption in 2014-15.

Visy Chairman Anthony Pratt said the company was pleased to partner with the CEFC to improve sustainability.

“Visy has pledged to invest $2 billion in Australian manufacturing to create jobs, increase efficiencies and boost sustainability,” Mr Pratt said.

CEFC Bioenergy Sector Lead Henry Anning said with the investment into Visy, it will be able to upgrade its existing infrastructure as well as invest in new equipment.

“We see clean energy technologies playing an increasingly important role in enabling Australian industry to reduce its energy intensity and better manage its energy-related operating costs,” he said.

“Visy is already a great example of this, meeting a part of its energy needs, including heat, through its existing biomass and energy from waste investments.

“The CEFC finance will allow Visy to further complement these energy sources with new investment to lift the overall energy efficiency of its operations. These are proven technologies that can be considered right across the manufacturing sector.”

Image: Henry Anning

Anthony Pratt named Australia’s wealthiest person

Paper, packaging and recycling magnate Anthony Pratt has been named Australia’s wealthiest person with a $12.6 billion fortune.

Pratt took the top spot from real estate property developer Harry Triguboff, having moved from second to first over a one-year period.

He last made the list of Australia’s 200 wealthiest people eight years ago, months after the death of his father Richard Pratt.

Financial Review Rich List editor John Stensholt told News Corp Pratt was reaping the rewards of expanding his business in the rust belt states of the US and investing in American manufacturing, which people thought was dying five years ago.

“Making those counter-cyclical investments sometimes is what’s the hallmark of people on the rich list … they can certainly take advantage of it when things are down and probably see things as buying opportunities,” he said. “What he has done in America is probably one of Australia’s great business success stories.

“Not many Australian businesses make a success of it overseas and he definitely has.”

 

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