Thorn Law has lodged a class action proceeding against a2 Milk in the High Court of New Zealand with similar allegations to the two filed in Australia.
In FY21 it recorded a 77.6 per cent EBITDA fall to NZ$123m, with revenue down 30.3 per cent to NZ$1.21 billion.
Class actions were launched by Shine Lawyers and Slater and Gordon, which alleged the company may have breached the Corporations Act through misleading or deceptive conduct.
Slater & Gordon said a2 Milk was or ought to have been aware that its FY21 guidance didn’t adequately consider factors that were likely to have an impact on the company’s financial performance.
Shine Lawyers class actions practice leader Craig Allsopp said investors had a right to recover the losses they experienced between 19 August 2020 and 7 May 2021.
In November 2021, Allsopp said, “Our claim alleges that a2 Milk had predicted its baby formula would have a high sales performance in FY21, contributing to a 30 per cent boost to its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation, but the forecast was misleading and caused our clients significant financial loss.”
A2 Milk said it would defend the class action and considered it had complied with disclosure obligations at all times. It denied any liability and would vigorously defend proceedings, it said.
New CFO
A2 Milk Company has announced its new CFO David Muscat, after the resignation of Race Strauss. Strauss joined the company in 2H FY20 and oversaw the company’s performance and response to Covid.
CEO and managing director David Bortolussi said Strauss had plays a key role in the the company’s turnaround as well as implementing a new ERP system.
Muscat is currently CFO of DIM Brands International, formerly Hanes Europe Innerwear. Prior to that he was CFO of Hanes Australasia.
