The Weyburn Inland Terminal showed a profit in the first half of the 2004 fiscal year, but those profits were impacted by such factors as the small 2003 crop and the wet spring planting season of 2004.

In a report released on Tuesday, WIT reported their after-tax earnings were $969,000 or $1.01 a share for the January-to-June period, down from the earnings of $1.36 million or $1.41 per share for the same period the year before.

The smaller crop of 2003, caused by drought and grasshopper damage, limited the amount of grain that WIT could handle, which in turn impacted earnings. In addition, the wet planting season from May into June cut into the number of acres seeded for this year, which also reduced sales of crop inputs such as fertilizer and weed control.

The board of directors for the Inland Terminal announced semi-annual dividends of $1.60 per Class A preferred share, and 60¢ per common share, to the shareholders of the company.

Improved prospects for the 2004 crop helped the directors maintain share dividends at the same level as 2003 to help address cash flow problems for farmers who are dealing with the BSE crisis, and with the smaller 2003 crop.

Dividends on the outstanding shares of WIT will be paid on or before Aug. 31 to the shareholders of record at the close of business on Friday, Aug. 20. The total payout will be about $577,000, bringing the total of dividends paid in 2004 to $1.1 million. There was a semi-annual dividend payout in March of $529,000. The June dividends represent a yield of 4.94 per cent based on June's closing share price of $23.27.

In the first half of 2004, WIT also paid out $260,000 in freight and dockage premiums, and working capital as of June 30 was $6.02 million.

CEO Rob Davies said WIT expects this year will see an extended harvest season due to the challenges of seeding time, and the WIT staff are prepared to deal with the varying crop qualities and needs that will result.

WIT president Claude Carles said the company is optimistic about the remainder of 2004.

"Much of the remaining 2003 crop was delivered in July, and while there are some areas flooded out, we expect a large volume of crop to work with this fall," he said, adding that while many companies reduced their services and increased handling fees, WIT has maintained their focus on serving their farmer customers.