Listen: Fonterra - Getting basics right pays off

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Fonterra's interim results were a bit of a mixed bag, with the co-op back in the black, but its earning performance not quite as impressive.

However, the results did show up a few bright spots, said Fonterra's Managing Director of Co-operative Affairs Mike Cronin.

"We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that there's a lot of stuff in the co-op that's going well," Cronin told The Country Early Edition's Rowena Duncum.

New Zealand Ingredients has had a steady performance "even with some challenges," said Cronin, and Fonterra's consumer and food service business is doing well in Australia.

Listen below:

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell's approach of "getting the basics right" has started to pay off said Cronin.

"We set some targets. We never thought we'd be quite there yet - there's a lot of work to do - but we've made more progress than we thought we had."

Although there will be no dividend paid this season, Fonterra has announced a strong forecast Farmgate Milk Price of "between the range of $6.30 to $6.60 per kilogram of milk solids", said Cronin.

Fonterra had been looking at selling Tip Top and its shares in DFE Pharma and Beingmate as part of its portfolio review.

Cronin said the co-op had also sold its share of Venezuelan company Inlaca, which was a "hard one," as Fonterra had been involved with the business for some time.

"It's been a good business but ... there are political and economic strife and devaluations of currency ... and that just means it's a very hard place to run a consumer business."

Also in today's interview: Cronin talks more about Fonterra's decision to sell DFE Pharma.