Julian Menegazzo, the company’s largest shareholder, said the latest SunRice half-yearly report proves the $5.025 per B-class share offered by Spanish food giant Ebro last year grossly undervalued the company.

The report showed a dramatic jump in after-tax profit – from $5.2m to $12.2m – but also revealed the company’s debt burden had dropped from $300m at the time of the Ebro offer to $187m now.

Fears SunRice shareholders would be unable to service its prohibitive debt was one of the key reasons given by pro-sale proponents to accept the $610m offer.

“By using this new debt figure, my calculations are that Ebro’s $610m (offer) would lead to roughly a $7 per share value – 40 per cent above (the original offer),” Mr Menegazzo said.

“The offer, if accepted, would have been a gift to Ebro.

“As a business and a company, SunRice is a powerhouse.”

The Werribee farmer also renewed calls for the company’s B-class shares to be traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) so the shares could realise their full value.

Currently, SunRice shares are listed at about the $2 mark on the Newcastle Stock Exchange (NSX) but are only able to be traded among existing shareholders.

Mr Menegazzo called on SunRice directors to list the shares on the ASX, saying by listing on the NSX, the company was acting as a makeshift co-operative and failing to “increase and create inherent value in its share capital”.

But Widgelli grower Chris Morshead, who also opposed the Ebro takeover, said listing the shares on the ASX would strip control from growers.

“The whole point under the current arrangement is we control the product from paddock to plate and have a vertically integrated marketing system,” Mr Morshead said.