Battle for milk
OPINION: Fonterra may be on the verge of selling its consumer business in New Zealand, but the co-operative is not keen on giving any ground to its competitors in the country.
Just last August, a2 was living the dream, reporting a bumper after-tax profit of $385.6 million on revenues of $1.73 billion.
Its share price, which at one stage had dropped to 10c, hit the giddy heights of $21.50, valuing the company at $15.9 billion, above NZ's biggest co-op.
But the tables have turned. Thanks to three successive profit downgrades, a2's fortunes have tumbled.
In recent weeks, its share price was $9.50, meaning the company has more than halved in value in little over six months.
It's currently worth about $7 billion.
