Fonterra posts H1 loss on China writedown
Wellington
NEW Zealand dairy giant Fonterra slumped to a first-half loss on Wednesday after massive write-downs on its China business, and announced long-time chief executive Theo Spierings' departure.
Fonterra posted a net loss of NZ$348 million (S$330 million) for the six months to Jan 31, down from a NZ$418 million profit in the same period a year earlier. It blamed the downturn on a NZ$405 million writedown in the value of its stake in Chinese baby food firm Beingmate and costs arising from a 2013 contamination scare.
Fonterra was ordered late last year to pay Danone NZ$183 million in damages over the 2013 incident, when fears of contamination in Fonterra-supplied ingredients forced the French company into global baby formula recalls.
Chairman John Wilson pointed to Fonterra's overall performance. He said that when one-off costs were stripped out Fonterra recorded a net profit of NZ$248 million, down 36 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
Mr Wilson also said work was under way to improve the performance of Hangzhou-based Beingmate Group, which Fonterra bought in 2014 in the hope of tapping into burgeoning Chinese demand for baby formula. "The opportunity in the Chinese infant formula market remains, as does the potential for our Beingmate partnership - but an immediate business transformation is needed for Beingmate."
Fonterra also announced Mr Spierings would leave later this year after seven years at the helm. AFP
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Energy & Commodities
Seatrium unit to fully redeem S$500 million worth of floating-rate bonds early
Anglo rejects BHP takeover bid as significantly undervalued
India rice prices at three-month low on shrinking demand
Gold prices set for weekly decline ahead of US inflation data
Pricey coffee is here to stay as hoarding, heat hit Vietnam supply
Oil settles higher as weak US economic growth offset by supply concerns