Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited

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Investor FAQs

What does it mean to own shares in WCBF?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are shares?
How do I buy and sell shares?
How do I find a share price for a company?
How can I follow the activities of ASX listed companies?
When do companies announce their results?
How do I find contact details for a company or its share registry?
GST questions in relation to brokerage?
Benefits of investing in shares
What does it cost?
What is a stockbroker?
What do brokers do?
Choosing a broker
Placing an order with your adviser

Paying and settling

1. What are shares?

When you buy shares in a company, you are buying a part of that company. This means you share in the company's performance in the form of profits which can be distributed to you as dividends and/or capital growth through the retention and reinvestment of funds in the business, which should lead to the value of your shares increasing.

The company you are investing in benefits by using your money and that of other investors to finance its business or its expansion, without having to borrow money.

2. How do I buy and sell shares?
All shares listed on ASX may be bought or sold through a licenced broker or by private agreement. A stockbroker acts as your agent to buy or sell shares on your behalf, for which a fee is charged. A broker can also provide a range of services including the provision of advice on which shares to buy or sell. Most stockbroking firms require you to provide funds prior to accepting your first order to buy shares. There are various types of brokers including full service and online brokers. Full service brokers typically provided research and personal advice and in turn charge higher fees.

3. How do I find a share price for a company?

You can find a company's share price, free of charge, by accessing the prices section of the ASX website (www.asx.com.au). All prices shown are delayed by at least 20 minutes. To access up to the minute prices you can contact your stockbroker or call MarketCall. MarketCall provides continually updated share price information by telephone on 1902 941 570 and is charged at $1.045 per minute (price inclusive of GST and will cost more from mobile and pay phones). To obtain MarketCall codes, please refer to any Fairfax newspaper. Share market details are also availible in the major daily newspapers

4. How can I follow the activities of ASX listed companies?

Companies listed on ASX are required under the Listing Rules to make announcements about their activities in order to ensure a fully informed market is maintained. Recent and historical company announcements for all ASX Listed Companies are available from the Company announcements section of this site.

5. When do companies announce their results?

Companies listed on ASX are required under the listing rules to lodge their Half Year Report, Preliminary Final Report and Annual Report with ASX:

as soon as available
no later than the time the documents are lodged with ASIC; and
at the latest by the due dates shown on the company reporting dates calendar on the ASX website

The due date is dependent upon the company's balance date or financial year end. 30 June is the financial year-end for 80% of companies. Half Year Reports are due 75 days after the end of financial half year. Preliminary Final Reports are due 75 days after the end of financial year. Annual Reports are due at the end of 17 weeks after the end of financial year.
6. How do I find contact details for a company or its share registry?

Company information, including its share registry contact details can be found in the company research section of the ASX website. You should contact the share registry for activities such as checking your shareholding or changing your mailing details. The two main registries are Computershare and ASX Perpetual. Shareholders can check their holdings online via the websites of the registries. The shareholder is typically required to input their Holder Identification Number (HIN) or Shareholder Reference Number (SRN) and postcode address to obtain details of their current holdings

As discussed below, if you wish to deal with one broker, you will need to sign the relevant papers and become broker sponsored, which means you will have a single HIN (like a PIN number for a credit card). The broker will have access to this number when you contact (eg telephone) him/her to buy/sell shares.

Alternately, you may not want to be broker sponsored but rather deal with a number of brokers. This means you will be issuer sponsored and have a different SRN for each shareholding. (i.e. a different PIN number for each company). WCB has appointed ASX Perpetual Registrars to operate its share register. Their information can be found by clicking here

7. GST questions in relation to brokerage?

Following the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July 2000, stamp duty was abolished. GST will not be imposed on the purchase or sale value of shares bought and sold, as transactions of this nature constitute a financial supply, which is input taxed for GST purposes. However, GST is typically imposed on brokerage fees associated with such transactions. For more information on the effect on brokerage fees, you should contact your broker.

8. Benefits of investing in shares

Outperforms other investments over the longer term
Although past performance is no indication of future performance, history suggests that Australian shares have outperformed other types of investment over the longer term.
Tax benefits
The performance of shares becomes even more attractive when tax benefits are taken into account. Where companies have already paid tax on their profits, tax credits known as franking credits may be attached to the dividends the company pays to you. These franking credits can be used to offset tax payable by you on other income. In addition, shares held personally for more than 12 months qualify for a 50% discount on any capital gains tax payable.
Flexibility
You can buy and sell shares very quickly and receive payment in a short period of time. You can sell shares and generally have access to your money in three days. Other investments often take longer to sell and get your money back. This concept is known as liquidity.

9.What does it cost?

Trading shares has become much cheaper in recent years as stock brokers have made use of new technology to provide a better service to you. Buying and selling shares can cost as little as $15 for a transaction-only service. You may need to pay more if you want advice and/or access to research on a company. [Referral to Austock may want to be made]

10. What is a stockbroker?

A stockbroker has direct access to the market for trading shares, and acts as an agent to buy or sell shares, for which a fee is charged. A broker may also offer a range of other products and services including advice on which shares to buy or sell.

11. What do brokers do?

Apart from buying or selling shares on your behalf, most advisers or stockbroking firms also offer:

advice on traditional investments such as shares, debentures, government bonds and listed property trusts
advice on a wide range of non-listed investment options (eg cash management trusts, property and equity trusts, etc)
investment plans tailored to your financial needs
planning, implementing and monitoring of your investment portfolio
retirement planning
research on national and international trends to help maximise your returns and minimise risk

12. Choosing a broker

You need first to decide whether you want advice on what to buy or sell and when to do so. Although broking firms generally do not charge a separate fee for advice, this service is reflected in higher brokerage fees on share transactions. Those firms not offering advice generally charge lower fees.
If you are starting out in the sharemarket and don't feel confident in your sharemarket knowledge you may value the advice of a full service broker. If you are interested in low cost trading and are confident in your knowledge of the sharemarket you may prefer a non-advisory broker.

After deciding on the type of service you require, you can choose any of the following:

Speak to a client adviser at a stockbroking firm. There are over 90 stockbroking firms, many with branches throughout Australia. Most of them employ a number of advisers to service individual investors.
Your financial planner and/or accountant may have an existing arrangement with a stockbroking firm and can arrange an introduction and/or the purchase or sale of shares.
Some banks offer facilities to purchase shares via their branch network and/or a special customer service area.
Purchase shares directly via a public float - see the section entitled 'Buying shares in a float' for more details.
Use the internet to buy shares. Your purchase will, however, still be via a broker's website.

The following chart describes the standard procedure for buying and selling shares.

Investors' buy and sell orders are entered into ASX's Stock Exchange Automated Trading System (SEATS).

The orders are entered by licensed operators within stockbroking firms using SEATS terminals located in their offices. SEATS matches buying and selling requests by price in the order they were entered into the system. Every order is processed on an equal basis, and larger investors do not gain priority. When a buy order is matched with a sell order,a trade occurs.

13. Placing an order with your adviser

Most stockbroking firms require you to provide funds before they accept your first order to buy shares. Many brokers will require that you set up a client account or trading account before you can start trading. This can take up to a week to finalise but can usually be done in 24 hours. Many brokers will require you to establish a cash management account with a bank or financial institution, to which they have access. This is to facilitate the transfer of funds to pay for your purchase of shares and to allocate proceeds to you from the sales of shares.

When you place an order to buy or sell shares, you have a choice of two ways to tell your adviser what price you will accept. You can place your order 'at market', meaning you will accept a price at or about the market price of the shares at the time you place your order. Alternatively, you can place your order 'at limit', and inform your adviser of the highest price you are prepared to pay or the lowest price at which you will sell.

When placing an order with your adviser, make sure your order is confirmed. Ask for the current market price and write it down. Then tell your adviser the details of your order (i.e. the amount of shares to be bought or sold and the price at limit or at market). The adviser should then repeat the order back to you.

Your adviser will not necessarily call you as soon as your order has been filled. However, if you place an order very near the current market price, it may be filled quickly. If you change your mind about the order after it has already been filled, you are still bound to pay for the shares you have bought, or release the shares you have sold, even if you have not yet received the contract note.

14. Paying and settling

Within three days of your broker executing your order you will need to enable the transfer of these shares, either by organising payment for the stock you have purchased, or by providing access to the shares you have sold. The access is through the provision of your HIN or SRN. If you are selling shares, and not broker sponsored (have a HIN), brokers prefer the SRN at the time of the order.
All shareholdings are registered electronically on either CHESS or the issuer sponsored sub-register. CHESS (the Clearing House Electronic Sub-register System) is operated by a subsidiary of ASX on behalf of the listed companies. Issuer sponsorship involves the company (or issuer) through which the shares are issued, controlling the shareholding on your behalf.

To hold shares electronically on CHESS, you usually enter into an arrangement with your broking firm to act as your CHESS sponsor. The CHESS sponsor can then electronically register details of any purchases or sales.

More detailed information on CHESS is covered in the ASX Easy Steps to Share Investment course.

The mechanics of how you settle your transactions depend upon where your shares are registered. If you have sold shares held on the CHESS sub-register you will need to provide your broker with your holder identification number (HIN) to allow access to transfer the shares for settlement. If sold shares are held with an issuer sponsored company, you will need to provide your broker with your Security-holder Reference Number (SRN) to allow access.

Owning Shares Settlement & CHESS Sponsorship