Dairyworks — branded cheese & butter business
Standalone reportable segment + CGU within Synlait; the profitable consumer-FMCG half, separate from the North Island assets being sold to Abbott
Synlait is in active divest mode: it has signed a binding conditional agreement to sell its North Island assets to Abbott (~US$178m / ~NZ$307m, completing ~April 2026) and cut net debt from $551.6m to $250.7m. The asset that deal leaves behind is Dairyworks — Synlait's branded cheese-and-butter business, reported as its own segment and CGU and run by its own CEO. It is the profitable half: Dairyworks made +$7.8m net profit in FY24 while the core Synlait segment lost $189.9m, and its gross profit rose 15% to $39m in FY25. Post-Abbott, Synlait's stated strategy refocuses on the South Island milk pool, Advanced Nutrition, Ingredients and Foodservice — leaving branded consumer cheese as the clearest non-core unit. Nothing is publicly marketed; this is an inference from the segment accounts and the group's own divestment behaviour.
| FY24 | FY25 | |
|---|---|---|
| Segment gross profit | 34 | 39 |
| Segment external revenue (FY24) | ||
| Segment EBIT (FY24, derived from segment note) | ||
| Segment net profit after tax (FY24) | ||
| Segment net assets (FY24) | ||
| CGU goodwill | ||
| CGU brand/trademark intangibles (indefinite-life) | ||
| FY25 impairment-test headroom (recoverable over carrying) |
| Banker | Bank syndicate (refinanced September 2025; members not named in FS); shareholder-loan support from Bright Dairy + The a2 Milk Company |
| Auditor | KPMG |
| FY end | 31 July 2025 |
| Currency | NZ$ millions |
"The Synlait segment combines Synlait Milk Limited and its subsidiaries excluding Dairyworks."
- Two reportable segments only — core Synlait (milk / nutritionals / ingredients) and Dairyworks (cheese & butter); Dairyworks is the lone non-core unit
- Dairyworks is the profitable half: FY24 segment NPAT +$7.8m vs the core Synlait segment's $(189.9m); FY25 gross profit $39m, up 15% from $34m
- EBIT ~$16.0m in FY24 derived from the segment note (NPAT $7.8m + tax $3.9m + net finance $4.3m); D&A $6.1m → EBITDA ~$22m
- Own CEO (Tim Carter, also Acting Synlait CEO Oct 2024–May 2025), own brands and own CGU — operationally separable
- Dairyworks CGU carries $58.2m goodwill + $16.6m indefinite-life brands; FY25 impairment test shows recoverable amount exceeds carrying by $151.1m
- Group deleveraging hard (net debt $551.6m → $250.7m) and refocusing on the South Island milk pool + nutrition post-Abbott — branded cheese is the odd one out
- Different business model from the core: branded consumer FMCG (fastest-growing cheese brand in Woolworths Australia; Costco AU; Thailand / Vietnam entry) vs Synlait's B2B ingredients / infant-formula
- 2019Synlait acquires Dairyworks (and Talbot Forest Cheese), entering branded consumer dairy.
- Apr 2024Strategic review of the North Island assets begins.
- 1 Oct 2024NZ$212.1m equity placement from Bright Dairy + The a2 Milk Company; balance-sheet reset begins.
- FY25Dairyworks gross profit up 15% to $39m; group net debt cut to $250.7m from $551.6m.
- 28 Sep 2025FY25 financial statements signed (KPMG).
- ~1 Apr 2026Targeted completion of the North Island asset sale to Abbott (~US$178m / ~NZ$307m).