Fonterra lifts sales in first-half; profit halves as margins shrink

Tue, 25 Mar 2014

By Jonathan Underhill March 26 (BusinessDesk) – Fonterra Cooperative Group posted a 53 percent drop in first-half profit as the price of milk ran ahead of prices for products such as cheese and casein, slashing margins at the world’s biggest dairy exporter. Profit fell to $217 million, or 13 cents a share, in the six months ended Jan. 31, from $459 million, or 28 cents, a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Sales climbed 21 percent to $11.3 billion in a period that included record December shipments to China of 110,...

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