Bortolussi’s A2 Milk Company posts strong earnings, plans $136m share buyback (copyright link)

a2 Milk mulls China, NZ deals to boost market access

The a2 Milk Company chief executive David Bortolussi is mulling acquisitions in China and New Zealand to help gain faster access to a wider range of Chinese label infant nutrition formulations for the largest infant formula market in the world.

“We’re unable to expand our portfolio. We want to achieve greater market access in terms of registrations, which is a complicated process,” he said. " We’re not close to announcing any deals or anything but ... at some stage it wouldn’t be surprising for us to potentially announce some form of joint venture or acquisition. It could be in partnership with China Animal Husbandry Group to acquire an asset in New Zealand or in China, that brings with it the prospect or actual registration as part of that acquisition.”A better-than-expected result in China has underpinned strong double-digit growth in earnings and sales for a2 Milk over the 2022 financial year, with profits gaining 52 per cent to $NZ122.6 million.