As New Zealand’s newspapers announced, the Goodman Fielder Limited Company from Sydney, Australia’s leading food manufacturer, will merge its New Zealand baking, dairy and home ingredients businesses into one single business. The new company is lead by a Country Managing Director. The three businesses have annual sales of about AUD 1bn (approx. EUR 745.5m). Two months ago, the group announced that the annual net profit fell by 17.3% following a significant decline in the second half, particularly in the baking and dairy divisions. As a consequence, Goodman Fielder made a AUD 300m (approx. EUR 223.7m) downturn in the value of its baking division. Goodman Fielder reported a loss of AUD 166.7m (EUR 124.3m) NPAT (net profit after tax) for the financial year ending 30th June 2011. This included an impairment charge of AUD 300m (EUR 223.7m) to the carrying value of the baking division. For further information: www.goodmanfielder.com.au.