Fonterra lifts forecast payout, 1H profit climbs 33 percent

Fonterra lifts forecast payout, 1H profit climbs 33 percent
By Paul McBeth March 27 (BusinessDesk) - Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world's biggest dairy exporter, expects to pay 30 cents more to farmers per kilogram of milk solids as drought pushed up global dairy prices and the cooperative lifted first half profit by a third. The Auckland-based company will pay $5.80 per kgMS and expects to pay an annual dividend of 32 cents per share, meaning a fully-shared up farmer will get a cash payout of $6.12 this season, down from $6.40 last year. Net profit climbed to $459 million in the six months ended...