The shares were trading at 12c when the halt took place.

They have fallen from a high of $5 in March 2005, dropping sharply over the past year.

The trading halt will stay in place until the company makes an announcement, expected before Monday.

Great Southern, with more than 40,000 investors, is the biggest managed investment scheme company in Australia, and its halt comes two weeks after another agribusiness group, Timbercorp, went into voluntary administration.

Like Timbercorp, Great Southern has been saddled with high debt, poor cash flow and sluggish managed investment scheme sales as drought, uncertainty about tax changes and the global financial crisis have hit earnings.

It has 180,000 hectares of plantations, a half-share in a woodchip mill, and projects in almonds, beef cattle, flowers, olives, poultry and grapes.

At the annual meeting in February Great Southern outlined a five-point plan to cut debt and improve cash flow.

The company has gained cash flow through investor growers swapping their interests in cattle and some forestry projects for Great Southern shares.

Last week it listed three cattle properties, including 100,000 cattle, for sale.

The assets are valued at $235 million.

The Perth-based company has a capitalisation of $77 million and interest-bearing loans and borrowings of $785 million, with $105 million in debt to be repaid or renegotiated by October.

At the half-year results, due by the end of this month, the company expects to post a loss of $120 million to $130 million, due to a big fall in managed investment scheme sales.

In the year to last September managed investment scheme sales fell 24 per cent to $314 million, leading to an after-tax loss of $63.8 million.

Net cash flows fell 57.3 per cent to $86.9 million, gearing levels rising to 53 per cent from 46 per cent.

The company's net assets are $706 million and total assets are valued at $1.79 billion.

The firm's plan includes refocusing its managed investment scheme products on timber projects such as teak and mahogany.