17 Dec 2020

A2 Milk in trading halt

3:11 pm on 17 December 2020

Glamour hot-stock A2 Milk is on a trading halt as it looks at previous earnings forecasts.

Spoon with infant formula

Photo: 123rf

The infant formula maker revised down its forecast earnings for the first half of its trading year in September because of an expected fall in sales in New Zealand and Australia.

At the time the company said sales to Chinese students, tourists and unofficial buyers sent back to China, known as the daigou channel, were lower because Covid-19 had closed borders.

The company said then that it expected sales to fall to between $725-$775 million from $805 million last year, although it said direct sales to China remained solid.

"We are requesting a trading halt to provide us with additional time to properly consider the current information and to consider new information as it becomes available, and inform the market," a2 Milk said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.

Synlait Milk, which makes most of A2 Milk's formula, said it was waiting to see if it would be affected.

"Once an announcement is released by The a2 Milk Company, Synlait will assess this information, and the impact on its own company, and provide a further update to the market if necessary," Synlait said.

A2 Milk's shareprice has fallen 35 percent since it hit a record high of $21.74 in mid-August, when it was one of the most valuable companies on the stock exchange, worth $16.1 billion.

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