Feb 16 (Reuters) - New Zealand's a2 Milk lifted its full-year forecasts on Monday and beat estimates with its half-year profits due to robust sales momentum in top market China, sending shares to a one-month high.
The dairy producer now expects fiscal 2026 revenue growth of mid double-digit percent from last year's continuing operations, compared to previous expectations of low double-digit percent top line growth.
Shares of the company surged 9.8% to NZ$10.98, marking its biggest intraday percent
jump in a year.
For the half-year ended December 31, the company's net profit after tax attributable from continuing operations rose 9.4% to NZ$112.1 million ($67.66 million), surpassing the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of NZ$104 million.
Meanwhile, a2 Milk now expects fiscal 2026 net profit after tax to rise from last year's reported figure, compared to its previous forecast of the figure being "slightly up" from the previous year.
Revenue from the firm's key China-and-other-Asia segment jumped 20.3% during the half-year period, helped by growth in its English-label infant milk formula (IMF) and other nutritionals.
Sales for the division came in at NZ$739 million, beating the Visible Alpha estimate of NZ$714 million with the help of 6.5% growth in China-label IMF revenue and a whopping 23.9% jump in English-label IMF sales.
The company has ramped up its investments for marketing, particularly in China where it has boosted its capability to support domestic growth and supply chain initiatives.
It also declared an interim dividend of 11.5 NZ cents per share, higher than the 8.5 NZ cents declared a year ago.
(Reporting by Nichiket Sunil and Keshav Singh Chundawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith, Edmund Klamann and Chris Reese)
