Updates with details and background throughout

March 10 (Reuters) - New Zealand's Fonterra FCG.NZ on Monday said it expects higher annual earnings due to robust volume and margin growth at the dairy giant's consumer operations, a business it is looking to sell and later list through an initial public offering.

Fonterra, one of the country's biggest listed firms, increased its full-year earnings outlook to 55-75 New Zealand cents per share from a previous estimate of 40-60 New Zealand cents.

In February, the firm said it would engage with the potential buyers of its global consumer businesses over the coming weeks and appointed a team to handle the initial public offering.

Auckland, New Zealand-based Fonterra in November last year outlined its plans to explore potential divestment options for its global consumer unit, Fonterra Oceania and Fonterra Sri Lanka, including a sale and an IPO.

"This upgrade reflects the underlying strength of our core ingredients business and the resilience in our consumer channel, which is contributing to a robust result for businesses in the divestment perimeter," said Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell.

The company kept its midpoint forecast for Farmgate Milk Price at NZ$10 per kilogram of milk solids for the year. It had earlier said it was in a position to pay a strong dividend to its shareholders.

(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams and Lisa Shumaker)

((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; X: @thatstanishk;))