Fonterra Cooperative Group News

The Dutchman probably doesn't think about it much now, as he leans more towards sailing than rugby, and is kept busy running New Zealand's biggest company, Fonterra.

The impact of drought in February, March and April on dairy farms was greater than Fonterra Cooperative Group anticipated, with milk collection down 0.5 percent in the first 11 months of the season.

The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants has brought former Fonterra chief executive Craig Norgate on board to oversee a major merger between the organisation and its Aussie counterpart, the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia.

Former Fonterra Cooperative Group chairman Henry van der Heyden will head up the board of national gateway Auckland International Airport after the annual meeting in October.

Dairy juggernaut Fonterra is proposing to axe 300 corporate jobs and sharemarket investors have lapped up the cost-carving move, driving up the share price over $8 in a response that surprised analysts.

Fonterra has announced plans to pilot a scheme designed to provide farmers with the opportunity to have "more certainty" in their milk price.

Farmer shareholders will have the opportunity to offer to sell the economic rights of up to 25 per cent of their minimum required shares to the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund.

Fonterra's top management table has changed with the appointment of a new head for the underperforming Australia business and the exit of senior executive Mark Wilson.