Synlait Loses Third CEO in Five Years as Richard Wyeth Resigns
Troubled milk processor Synlait has lost its third chief executive in five years.
Owned by Yili Group since 2019, Westland Milk’s total revenue for 12 months ending December 31 2022 topped $1.04b. The company made a profit of $39 million.
Farmers who supply the West Coast processor received a record $9.40/kgMS for their milk in 2022.
Westland says it continues to pay farmers a 10c premium above the forecast Fonterra KgMS price. The company’s milk payout contributed $535 million into the West Coast and Canterbury economies.
Westland chief executive Richard Wyeth says the company’s strategy of focusing on high-value product sales, leveraging off the West Coast’s reputation as a source of premium dairy products and ingredients, is now paying dividends.
“This is the first time in our company’s 85-year history that we have surpassed the $1 billion dollar revenue mark,’’ Wyeth says.
“Having the support of Yili has enabled us to invest in our people and the infrastructure needed to increase production and sales of value-added products.
Wyeth says the turnaround in performance is also a result of a well-planned, whole-of-business approach to improve quality, reduce waste, increase sales, improve opportunities for staff and reduce costs of production.
“The biggest contributor to increasing revenue has been our high-value product strategy and to some extent high global commodity prices but right across the business we have focused on doing everything well,.
“Customers willing to pay a premium for high-value products have high standards. We’re working with our entire supply chain to ensure we can demonstrate these standards so that our customers can see for themselves the value of our ingredients and products.’’
Wyeth says the financial performance was well ahead of company projections and he remains optimistic about maintaining momentum and growth for Westland, despite ongoing international inflationary pressures and overall reductions in milk supply across New Zealand.
In 2022, Westland processed an 11% increase in milk solids year-on-year. This supported an operational cash conversion cost saving of 10 per cent year-on-year, equivalent to around $18 million.
While Westland was able to pay farmers a record price of $9.40KgMS in 2022, the recent milk price downgrade and ongoing impacts of inflation meant Westland would continue to take a cautious approach in managing costs to ensure it could continue to pay a premium.
