Solid third quarter result for Fonterra
Fonterra has announced an improved third quarter performance – with a profit after tax of $1.15 billion, up $119 million on the same period last year.
The company’s net profit for year ending December 31 2024 was $13.5 million, compared to $61m the previous year. Turnover reached $1.85 billion, slightly above the previous year’s turnover of $1.83b.
ANZCO Foods chief executive Peter Conley said 2024 was another challenging year for farmers and the red meat sector.
“Global market pricing for beef and lamb improved in the second half of the year with increased consumer demand in key markets including North Asia, USA, Canada, UK and Europe. China has seen slower economic activity, and this reduced demand impacted beef and sheepmeat returns,” Conley says.
“A positive feature of 2024 was our ability to have sites fully staffed, enabling the company to drive higher revenue through additional product recoveries.”
Conley thanked the ANZCO Foods team across the business for its hard work during the year and its contribution to delivering on the company strategy.
“Our people are the foundation of our business, and their commitment to each other and our company is a key part of our success.”
As well as managing its core business efficiently, ANZCO Foods continued to focus on growing its value-add food manufacturing, healthcare and bioscience business.
“While these businesses continued to perform well, higher raw material costs impacted on margins,” he says.
In 2024 the company continued to invest capital in projects to improve capability and efficiency including upgrading the ANZCO Foods Canterbury beef packing room, introducing lamb loin robotics at ANZCO Foods Rangitikei, a boning room upgrade at ANZCO Foods Marlborough and ongoing investment in technology, systems, health and safety and environmental improvements.
“The 2025 year has started positively but with new uncertainty as geopolitical tensions and tariff implications are yet to be fully understood. However, the underlying outlook for beef and lamb is positive with improving economic conditions driving increased demand amid global supply constraints,” Conley says.
“ANZCO Foods is satisfied with the 2024 result in a challenging year, and is looking to build on recent years’ results in 2025. As one of New Zealand’s largest employers and exporters, we remain committed to doing all we can to continue to deliver positive returns that contribute to a strong and vibrant New Zealand agribusiness sector.”
