“We believe that this is a temporary situation, that consumer demand, not just domestically but globally, will return and once it does return we will have the infrastructure to be able to derive the value that we had originally anticipated,” Saputo said. He is president and chief executive officer.
He also noted China’s opening has occurred slower than expected, which has impacted commodity prices.
“China is a huge consumer of dairy products and has an impact on the global market and the global pricing,” Saputo said.
Net earnings for the fourth quarter were $159 million, up from $37 million a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 totalled $4.5 billion, up from $4 billion in the same quarter last year.
Net earnings for the full financial year were $755 million, up from $485 million, while revenues rose to $17.8 billion from $15.0 billion.
