It's facing a loss of up to 675-million-dollars this financial year, after huge write-downs of its assets.
JMI Wealth director Andrew Kelleher says it highlights Fonterra's economic model again.
He says as a cooperative, it doesn't have the flexibility of a listed company that can just issue equity, shore up the balance sheet and move on.
Kelleher says Fonterra also has to give farmers the best price for raw materials, which cuts into its margins.