Media Updates, page-14578

Sounds about right. It will take a haircut today and just keep on growing. Similar result to last year in some respects, where the underwhelming guidance was upgraded 6 months later and the SP from $4 to $7.

The amount of detail in the presentation is staggering. There is really no doubting the management's execution in terms of the core performance of the business. They have mapped out a strategy a few years back and are delivering against it with discipline. They have innovated and introduced new products, transitioned these into the market seamlessly, and incrementally grown market share.

There's very little not to like about this cash generating machine, other than it not fully exploiting the potential of the cash it generates. By my estimate they will surpass $1B in the next few months. Not one word about a blending & canning facility at MVM - they seem content to pay to outsource this to Yashili.

It seems decreasingly likely that they will be in any position to acquire Synlait or its Dunsandel facility. They do now mention possibilities of acquisitions in 'China or NZ' but it's hard to make anything of this. Seems like they just don't know and capital management seems to be the only part of the business where they don't evaluate themselves against their long term goals.

If they want to reliably bank 5-10% growth each year, that's fine, but I don't think they can keep doing it without returning shareholder value in the form of BB or dividend. Most holders would forgo these options if they were to actually invest in growth.