Dutch-based multinational dairy co-op FrieslandCampina has said it has seen “disappointing” financial results for 2023.
In announcing its results for 2023 today (Wednesday, February 21), the business announced a revenue of €13.07 billion, a decrease of 7.1% on the 2022 figure of €14.08 billion.
This was accompanied by an operating profit of around €75 million, a fall of over 84% compared to 2022, when the figure was €471 million.
This resulted in a net overall loss to FrieslandCampina in 2023 of €149 million, a decrease of 151% on its 2022 profit of €292 million.
The business’ guaranteed milk price – which is based on average yearly raw milk prices of reference farms in northwestern Europe – fell by 16.2% to €46.26 per kilogramme of milk, down from the historic high of €55.21/kg for 2022.
However, the 2023 guaranteed price was still above the five-year average.
The actual milk price paid to farmer suppliers in 2023 also fell by 16.2% compared to 2022, down to €48.08/kg from €57.35/kg.
The number of dairy farmers that are members of Friesland as of the end of 2023 was 9,417, a decrease of 5.1% on the 9,927 members at the close of 2022.
Supplies of milk also fell back, from 9.5 billion kilogrammes in 2022 to 9.37 billion kg in 2023.
Due to the business’ disappointing financial performance, its members will not receive a supplementary cash payment for the year, with FrieslandCampina CEO Jan Derck van Karnebeek saying: “This result is far below our company’s potential. We can and must do better.
“2023 was a difficult year for FrieslandCampina. We realised a disappointing operating profit and furthermore, we recognised a number of considerable one-off costs. As a result, we are closing the year with a loss. This is not what the member dairy farmers and employees deserve,” van Karnebeek added.
The CEO said the business’ results are, to a large extent, a result of commodity dairy prices. However, van Karnebeek also cited a number of one-off cost items that also impacted performance.
One of these was an “organisational restructuring” which involved severance payments for 1,800 staff to be laid off.
