As a shareholder he welcomes that $1.1 billion of debt has been paid off, albeit that was partly through asset sales.
“I think it’s a good thing, it makes for a stronger balance sheet,” he said.
He says the co-op’s new focus and direction gives him confidence as the company looks to the future.
“I like the strategy. We’re focusing on what we’ve got rather than trying to be the biggest, which you don’t have to be,” he said.
“It’s where we should have been all along, I’m on board with it.
“It’s showing up those egos from the past.”
Sarten says he is comfortable with the size of the confirmed $7.14/kg milksolids farm gate milk price.
“It is what it is. I mean you always want more but there are some things, like the worldwide volatility around milk prices, that are out of (Fonterra’s) control. You just have to accept that,” he said.
He’s not too disappointed with the size of the dividend, which was 5c a share despite reported tax after profit being $659 million, $1.3bn higher than last year’s $562m loss.
“I would have liked more but we needed a dividend and we got one, so that’s good,” he said.
“As an interested long-term shareholder, I’m happy that they’ve invested the money back into the company and strengthened the balance sheet.”
He says he understands the issues around the balance sheet needing to be shored up, which will place Fonterra in a stronger position as it looks to the future.
From what he has seen of the co-op’s change in strategy there are no particular areas that he thinks need to be addressed immediately.
“I’m just so pleased about what’s happening now. It’s about time,” he said.
One aspect he says that could change – and one that is outside the board’s performance – is that not enough of Fonterra’s suppliers take an active interest in the co-op’s affairs.
“It would be better for everyone if more were doing that,” he said.
Inglewood farmer Michelle Jonas is another who is pleased with the result.
“I’m very happy to hear about the turnaround,” she said.
“There’s been a lot of waste and mismanagement in the past, so to see that changing is very pleasing because having to go through that (in past years) has been tough on farmers.
“It was just something on top of everything else we’ve had to go through with more costs that we didn’t need.”
Although the dividend is small, Jonas says at least there is one, which is a positive sign.
“We did need to see one. It does give some confidence,” she said.
She says the co-op’s strategy and direction now has it on the right path.
Southland dairy farmer and shareholder Vaughan Templeton says the co-op’s performance is an improvement on the previous year, but is far from stellar.
“It’s okay but it is not a good result. When you take off one-off gains and only get a 5c dividend, that is the true indicator of profitability,” he said.
Templeton says he supports the decision to retain earnings, but the fact remained Fonterra still has room for improvement.
He doubted suppliers who moved to other companies would be regretting their decision based on this result.
Fonterra’s currency hedging was one area that disappointed him, saying they trailed the spot price for a second successive year.
Acknowledging hedging was an inexact science, he described this aspect as frustrating.
Templeton welcomed the forecast milk price for the coming season but noted its wide range, which was a concern given reports global milk volumes are growing.
“There is some uncertainty,” he said.
He planned to maximise production over the peak period and then base future decisions on the price outlook.
Mid-Canterbury dairy farmer Andrew Morris says Fonterra’s result was spot on with his budget forecasts, adding that it reflected the co-op’s performance in the last couple of years.
“It was a positive result and I believe it shows we are on the right track,” he said.
Morris was also pleased with the forecast price for the coming season but noted forecasting prices was like forecasting the weather.
Dairying was mostly in a good spot at present.
“We are pretty happy within the farm gate,” he said.
“Business is going well and I am happy with the direction Fonterra is taking us after a disappointing couple of years.”
