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Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell.
Fonterra's 2025/26 financial year is off to a strong start, with a first quarter group profit after tax of $278 million- up $15m on the previous year.
When excluding the costs associated with the consumer business divestment, Fonterra’s normalised earnings per share are 18 cents, up slightly on last year, according to its first quarter results released last week.
Chief executive Miles Hurrell says continuing operations delivered a profit after tax of $158 million, equivalent to 9 cents per share, slightly down on the same period last year reflecting differences in sales phasing.
“We maintain our full year earnings range for continuing operations of 45-65 cents per share,” says Hurrell.
The co-op continues to make good progress on implementing its strategy, to grow value as a global business-to-business (B2B) dairy provider.
In October, farmer shareholders voted to approve the divestment of Mainland Group to Lactalis for $4.22 billion.
“This is a significant milestone and we’ve received a strong mandate from farmer shareholders on our strategy,” says Hurrell.
“We are firmly focused on delivering the commitments we’ve made, not least our target to lift earnings back to FY25 levels by FY28, offsetting the impact of the divestment of Mainland Group.
“To support this goal, we are progressing with plans to invest up to $1 billion over the next three to four years in projects to generate further value and drive operational efficiencies,” he says.
In September, Fonterra announced a $75 million expansion of butter production at its Clandeboye site to help meet growing global demand and improve product mix. Construction is nearing completion on the $75 million investment in the Studholme protein hub, with the first products expected in early 2026 and construction continues on the $150 million investment in a new UHT cream plant at Edendale, which is expected to be complete in the second half of 2026.
“We look forward to sharing further progress updates during the year,” says Hurrell.
As dairy farmers lock in plans for the upcoming mating season, a partnership between Fonterra and Silver Fern Farms has been formed with the aim of making it simpler to create additional value from calves not entering the replacement herd.
South Waikato farmer Bas Nelis is always interested in fine-tuning his business to improve results.
Fonterra has reduced its forecast 2026/27 Farmgate Milk Price.
Fonterra's Whareroa site took home the prestigious Directors Award at the co-op's 'Oscars of Manufacturing', while Clandeboye led the way with multiple wins at this year's Best Site Cup.
After 25 years it is the right time to step away, says Colin Glass, the retiring chief executive of New Zealand's largest private corporate dairying company, Dairy Holdings.
Tayla Steele is in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at Massey University in Palmerston North.
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