Fonterra said diversification helped the co-op lift its net profit by 50 per cent to $546 million in the first half.

The co-op doubled its interim dividend to 10c and has forecast a milk price of $8.20 to $8.80 per kg for the current season.

Earnings per share came to 33 cents.

Fonterra has also proposed a return of capital of 50 cents per share and per unit, subject to completion of the sale of Soprole.

It has also upgraded its full year normalised earnings from 50-70 cents per share to 55-75 cents per share.

Chief executive Miles Hurrell said the results showed the co-op was performing well against a backdrop of ongoing market volatility.

“Our co-op’s scale and diversification across channels and markets has enabled us to navigate through disruption and make the most of favourable market conditions in a number of areas,” he said.

“While milk powder prices have softened recently, impacting our forecast Farmgate milk price range, protein prices have been high, and this is reflected in the lift in earnings we’re reporting today,” he said.

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