The country's second-biggest dairy processor, Open Country Dairy, has posted a $29.5 million loss for the year to July, a performance it calls ''extremely disappointing''.
The loss is three times greater than the exporter recorded in 2010.
Group revenue increased to nudge $680m, from $497m a year earlier.
Chairman Laurie Margrain in the annual report said the bottom line performance was unsatisfactory.
It was to be expected that record high milk prices would put pressure on processing margins and year-end profitability for a dairy processor, he said.
But the situation was heightened for Open Country in the last year by continuing volatility in world commodity and financial markets.
The company, which has three processing plants, made a record payout to its farmer suppliers. The average final farmgate milk price for the 2011 season was an average of $7.56/kg milksolids, up 24 per cent or $1.49 on the previous year.
The market outlook for dairy demand in 2011-2012 was ''robust'', driven by rising incomes and population growth in developing countries, Margrain said.
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