Tuesday, 01 December 2015 13:11

Higher returns demanded

Written by 
Under pressure: Fonterra shareholders council chair Duncan Coull; board chair John Wilson and chief executive Theo Spierings face journalists after the annual meeting. Under pressure: Fonterra shareholders council chair Duncan Coull; board chair John Wilson and chief executive Theo Spierings face journalists after the annual meeting.

Fonterra farmers are looking forward to higher returns as a result of the co-op's capital expenditure.

Shareholders Council chairman Duncan Coull says farmers have contributed their capital to support the strategy.

"It is now very important that these strategic initiatives are backed by tangible returns to our farmers on the investments they have made in the co-op," he told the annual meeting.

He says farmers are backing Fonterra's strategy of shifting more milk into higher returning products. "We can already see this working in the first quarter results announced recently."

He noted the co-op had used its strength to help farmers during a tough year, increasing earnings in the second half and raising advance payments.

"This demonstrated the co-op using its strength to help farmers when they needed it the most," Coull said.

Chief executive Theo Spierings told shareholders the co-op must "stay the course" despite market uncertainty.

He said the recent events in Europe, including the shooting down of a Russian plane by Turkey, are further compounding the markets. So Fonterra needs to stay the course and stay focussed on strategy.

"We look at things we're doing well and do them faster; things we're not doing well we need to improve on," he says. "These are the things we can control; we can't control the other things happening around the world."

More like this

Fonterra R&D: Innovation needs more than just PhDs

Common sense and good human judgement are still a key requirement for the super highly qualified staff working at one of New Zealand's largest and most important research facilities - Fonterra's R&D Centre at Palmerston North.

Misguided campaign

OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is polluting the environment.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Overbearing?

OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…

Foot-in-mouth

OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter