26 BUSINESS MONDAY FEBRUARY 26 2018 COURIERMAIL.COM.AU

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in Brisbane and now operatesin the US, also chalked up de-clining revenues as it switched

LABOUR OF LOVE: Emma McNeilly has built a custom-made tea towel design business that helps schools. Picture: Richard Dobson

Children’s artwork finds expressions in tea towels MUM of three EmmaMcNeilly has built a uniquebusiness which helps cash-strapped schools, daycarecentres and community or-ganisations around the coun-try raise money.

Her company Expressionsmakes custom-made tea tow-els which incorporate art-work created by the childrenfrom school raising the funds.

Ms McNeilly sells her teatowels in bulk to the schoolwhich can then make a 50 percent profit onselling it to par-ents and members of the localcommunity.

She said schools liked herapproach because it differsfrom the usual form of fund-raising with cake stalls andsausage sizzles.

Since 2000 Ms McNeillysaid Sydney-based Expres-sions has sold more than 2

million tea towels and hashelped 18,000 organisationsraise money.

“In my first year of busi-ness I did 100 schools, thenext year I grew to 200, then300, then it just kept going …we are now up to a verysteady 1000 schools per year,”she said.

“Over 80 per cent ofschools fundraise, so it’s avery big part of the schoolsystem these days, I am on

my own P & C and I knowhow much we are trying toraise to install aircondition-ing.”

Ms McNeilly employs fivepeople which includes fourworking mums like herself.

“I do embrace a little bit ofa flexible working environ-ment for some of thosemums, we have got a kidsroom cushions and TVs, anda couple of the mums do quitea bit of work from home,” she

said. Ms McNeilly said one ofthe hardest things she had tolearn with running a smallbusiness was delegating re-sponsibility to her employees.

“I kind of felt like I wantedto do it all myself in the be-ginning, and there were a lotof late nights and a lot ofexhaustion,” she said.

“One of the great thingsfor me was learning the art ofdelegating, and … lettingother people help.”

EDWARD BOYD

Markets set to follow US leadAUSTRALIA’S sharemarket isset for a positive start takingthe lead from Wall Street.

The futures market is point-ing to a 30-point rise for theASX200 at the start of trade.

“It was a very good sessionin the US,” CommSec chiefeconomist Craig James said re-ferring to the Dow Jones In-dustrial Average which gained348 points or 1.4 per cent onFriday.

Locally, with the end ofearnings season approaching,Mr James said, overall, theearning session has been good.

QBE Insurance and CaltexAustralia will release full yearresults this week, while Blue-Scope, Virgin Australia andHarvey Norman will releasehalf year results.

The Australian Bureau ofStatistics on Thursday will re-lease private capital expendi-ture for the December quarter.

Anatara squeals over delay

DOUBLE TROUBLEIN QUICK TIME

WITH CARDSMONEY SAVER HQ, P31

BRISBANE-based drug devel-oper Anatara Lifesciences hasunleashed frustration at longAustralian government delaysin clearing its veterinary treat-ments.

Anatara has labelled thehold ups as “ridiculous” withthe biotechnology companystill awaiting a 2016 appli-cation to bring its pig diahor-rea drug to market.

The comments came as An-atara and other Queenslandbiotechnology companies, inearnings results this season,detailed losses.

The companies have facedtheir own trial delays or lags ingovernment approvals.

“It’s just ridiculous,” Anata-ra chief executive officer MelBridges told The Courier-Mail.“It’s just being held up by bu-reaucracy.”

The Australian Pesticidesand Veterinary MedicinesAuthority told The Courier-Mail its operations were im-proving but some applicationswere “still overdue and this ap-plication from Anatara ap-pears to be one of them”.

Anatara posted a deeper$1.7 million loss for the past sixmonths, which included a liftin staff expenses from $1 mil-lion to $1.4 million. It had morethan $8.5 million in cash, in-cluding term deposits, andshares lifted from $1.05 in 2016to $1.73 by last year’s end.

It recently got US regulatorsign off to say it was safe forpeople to eat food derived fromanimals treated with Anatara’spineapple-derived product.

This process can take up tosix years and Dr Bridges said

Anatara had done it within 18months.

Wound healing companyFactor Therapeutics finishedthe past six months with a $2.9million loss.

It now hopes to finish re-cruiting patients for a key clini-cal trial by April havingrecently signed up 100 peopleto test the effectiveness of itstreatment on ulcers.

Brisbane-based Factor had$6.6 million in cash and sharesfell from 6.7¢ to 5.1¢ in the year.

Impedimed, which started

to selling a new generation ofits medical device.

The device detects changesin water in the body, helpingpredict horrid swelling ail-ments, but investors are stillawaiting results from a 1100-patient trial.

The company lost $14.4 mil-lion, and revenue from sales ofgoods and services dippedfrom $2.9 million to $2.1 mil-lion.

Costs for administrationand share-based payments lift-ed, and it took a $600,000 pro-vision against old stock.

Impedimed shares fell from$1.03 to $1.015 in the period.

Biotech company slams drug approval hold-upLIAM WALSH

Buffett has no lust for dealsINVESTOR Warren Buffettsays Wall Street’s lust for dealshas prompted CEOs to act likeoversexed teenagers and over-pay for acquisitions, so it hasbeen hard to find deals forBerkshire Hathaway.

In his annual letter to share-holders on Saturday, Mr Buf-fett blamed his recentacquisition drought on ambit-ious CEOs who have been en-couraged to take on debt tofinance pricey deals.

“If Wall Street analysts orboard members urge thatbrand of CEO to considerpossible acquisitions, it’s a bitlike telling your ripening teen-ager to be sure to have a nor-mal sex life,” Buffett said.

Mr Buffett is sitting on$US116 billion ($A148 billion)of cash and bonds because hehas struggled to find acquisi-tions at sensible prices.