About 5% more “dry” shares were issued to Fonterra suppliers as a result of changes to the dairy giant's capital structure.Up until the country's largest company unveiled its balance sheet yesterday it was not known what the uptake of dr
About 5% more “dry” shares were issued to Fonterra suppliers as a result of changes to the dairy giant’s capital structure.
Up until the country's largest company unveiled its balance sheet yesterday it was not known what the uptake of dry shares were as average national milk production rose to absorb some of the numbers.
However, based on what was revealed in Fonterra’s annual results, on average more farmers in the North Island are likely to be benefiting from the 27c a share dividend payment.
The capital changes mean Fonterra suppliers can increase their stake in the co-operative to 120% of their milk production, based on one share for every kilogram of milksolids produced in the year to July 31.
However, “dry” shares that are not linked to milk flow can only be calculated at the end of the financial year when final production is known.
By the end of the financial year, there were 1.353 billion shares on issue, which was 8% up on last year’s 1.251 billion.
Of those, 68 million shares – about 5% - were calculated to be dry shares.
However, while overall milk production was up a little to 1.286 billion/kgMS, it was down significantly in the North Island and dramatically up in the South Island.
In the year to July, milk production north of Auckland fell 7%, largely due to summer drought conditions and 4% for the rest of the island.
Conversely, production in the South Island was up on average 10% with a spike of 12% centred on Canterbury.
While specific figures are not yet available, these numbers suggest that more dry shares were issued to North Island suppliers.
