Fonterra Co-op's final farmgate milk price for the 2024/25 season was $10.16 per kilograms of milk solids (kgMS) which equated to $15.3 billion in milk payments to New Zealand farmers.

New Zealand’s largest dairy company today (Thursday, September 25) released its full year 2025 (FY25) annual results which showed the co-op generated $26 billion in revenue and delivered $16.2 billion in total cash returns to shareholders.

According to its CEO, Miles Hurrell, FY25 has been one of the co-op’s "strongest years yet in terms of shareholder returns". 

"Our strategy is designed to grow end-to-end value for farmers by focusing on being a B2B dairy nutrition provider, working closely with customers through our high-performing ingredients and foodservice channels," he added.

Fonterra's latest set of annual results shows total group operating profit increased to $1.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion for FY25.

The co-op's profit after tax was $1.1 billion - equivalent to earnings per share of 65 cents.

It was marginally down on the prior year, which Fonterra said was a result of a "higher tax expense in FY25 after the co-op elected not to deduct distributions to farmer shareholders from taxable income and instead attach imputation credits to dividends".

The co-op also announced a FY25 full year dividend of 57 cents - comprised of a 22 cent interim dividend and 35 cent final dividend. 

Fonterra's 2024/25 season milk collections totaled 1,509 million kgMS which was up by 2.6%.

The co-op has also revised its forecast milk collections for the 2025/26 season from 1,490 million kgMS to 1,525 million kgMS.

This, according to its CEO, is because “favourable weather conditions experienced during the previous season are forecast to continue through spring, supporting pasture growth".

“Our ongoing balance sheet strength, combined with our focused strategic direction, means the co-op is well prepared for the future and positioned to continue delivering positive returns to shareholders,” Hurrell added.