NZD Bearish: New Zealand's Fonterra to freeze pay, scrap bonuses of 7,000 employees

Reuters quotes key excerpts from an internal email to New Zealand’s (NZ) dairy giant Fonterra’s staff on Thursday, citing that the company has scrapped bonuses and frozen the pay of about 7,000 employees.

The dairy group is set to report its worst annual loss next week.

Chief Executive Miles Hurrell wrote in the email: Employees at the world’s biggest dairy exporter earning over NZ$100,000 ($64,000) a year will not receive a pay rise this year.

“This has been a tough call, but it’s also the right one,” Hurrell added.

He said: “Bonuses based on sales and short-term incentives for the year will not be paid. Together as a Co-operative, we must do what’s right, working together to reset our business and get us back to a position where we can be proud of our financial performance.”

This development could render negative for the New Zealand dollar. However, so far, the Kiwi appears unperturbed, as it cheers the latest risk-on spurred by renewed US-China trade optimism. At the press time, the spot rises +0.25% to near-weekly top of 0.6378.