Fonterra, Sharesies join to make share trading easier
Fonterra is teaming up with wealth app provider Sharesies to make it easier for its farmer shareholders to trade co-op shares among themselves.
Fonterra has appointed a board sub-committee to salvage its disastrous investment in Chinese infant formula trader Beingmate.
The co-op says a board working group – that includes independent directors Simon Israel and Clinton Dines - is “providing guidance and oversight” as the senior management team work to recover the investment.
Both Israel and Dines have significant China experience and expertise.
Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings says the co-op is “working hard in the background” on the Beingmate investment.
Spierings acknowledged that revising the Beingmate investment is unacceptable to shareholders and unitholders. “The recovery of the value of this investment is the number one immediate priority for me and the senior management team.
“To be blunt, the investment in Beingmate has not gone the way we expected and there are things we would do differently knowing what we know now. We are very focused on doing all we can to get things where they need to be.”
As an 18.8% shareholder, Fonterra doesn’t have direct control over the Beingmate, which was the number one infant formula in China until two years ago.
But the co-op is working with Beingmate founder and majority shareholder Xie Hong to “influence its direction and an urgent business transformation”.
“We see there are a number of opportunities to reverse the current performance, unlock the distribution network and meet customers’ preferences for e-commerce,” says Spierings.
“While this seems like a slow process and we’re not allowed to share all of the information about Beingmate’s business, we are working hard in the background to get ourselves in a position where there is a tangible action plan for transforming Beingmate that we can share more widely and monitor progress,” says Spierings.
Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force.
Making things simpler, not harder, for deer farmers in farm planning and coping with regulations is Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) industry capability manager John Ladley’s current focus.
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) is launching an online business directory called The Country Women’s Collective to promote and support entrepreneurial rural women.
New Zealand actor Sam Neill has joined the Campaign for Wool NZ as an ambassador, lending his name and profile to educate and advocate for New Zealand strong wool.
Living labs that bring together expertise at locations around New Zealand are among potential solutions identified by researchers to help the country move towards a more climate resilient future.
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