Fonterra plans NZ$300 mln bond issue in February

Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier said that the dairy giant was planning a NZ$300 million bond issue with unlimited oversubscriptions to be marketed in early February. Ferrier was speaking on Fonterra's sky digital channel used to broadcast the announcement that Fonterra had revised its payout forecast for this season down to NZ$5.10/kg from its forecast of NZ$6.00 last year and last season's payout of NZ$7.66. There had been talk since before Christmas that Fonterra would announce the bond issue to refinance some financial market borrowings and to reduce its debt levels.