a2 Milk has forecast tough times ahead for the next financial year amid changing markets in China.He said exporting products from Australia to China isn't as lucrative as it once was.
a2 Milk has been seeing huge streams of profit from infant formula sold in Australia and other markets and sent back to China, but has predicted that this will dwindle. "The China IMF market has become increasingly challenged as a result of lower birthrates and increased competitive intensity," Bortolussi said.Bortolussi said he anticipated the daigou channel to recover to just “half of what it was” before 2020.“There [are] a lot of things that are conducive to a daigou recovery. Unfortunately, we’re not seeing a significant rebound in that,” Bortolussi said.
Meanwhile, parents were also increasingly opting to buy their infant formula online and in-store, and in the company's core market in China there had been a move towards Chinese-label products.Shares in the dairy company dived 11.5 per cent to $4.37 after it announced its net profit after tax rose 26.2 per cent to $144.8 million but forecast tougher goings this financial year.