New Zealand’s Fonterra posts 50% jump in half-year profit

(Reuters) – New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd on Thursday said first-half profit jumped 50% due to higher prices for its dairy products and strong margins across its protein division.

The world’s biggest dairy exporter reported normalised net profit after tax of NZ$546 million ($338.19 million) for the six months ended Dec. 31, compared with NZ$364 million a year earlier.

Fonterra declared an interim dividend of 10 NZ cents per share, compared with 5 NZ cents per share declared last year.

($1 = 1.6145 New Zealand dollars)