EANS-News: AGRANA: strong results for first half of 2011|12
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer/originator is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quarterly report/6-month report Wien (euro adhoc) - In the first half of the 2011|12 financial year (ended 31 August 2011), AGRANA markedly boosted both revenue (by 19.7% to EUR 1,284.7 million) and operating profit before exceptional items (by 82.4% to EUR 118.2 million). All three segments - Sugar, Starch and Fruit - contributed to this growth. It reflects both the rewards of the optimisation measures taken in the previous years, and good market conditions for the Group during the first six months of this financial year. As a result of the dissolution of two Chinese joint ventures in the fruit juice concentrate business, exceptional items amounted to a net expense of about EUR 1.5 million. After a net financial items expense of EUR 17.9 million and a tax expense of EUR 21.2 million (based on a tax rate of 21.4%), the Group´s profit for the period was EUR 77.7 million. In the first six months, the Group was able to reduce its net debt by 7.9% to EUR 352.2 million. The equity ratio improved to 50.6% and the ratio of net debt to total equity, at 35.1%, was significantly lower than on 28 February 2011. AGRANA - IFRS results for the period ended 31 August Q2 11|12 Q2 10|11 H1 11|12 H1 10|11 Revenue EUR 671.8 m EUR 532.9 m EUR 1,284.7 m EUR 1,073.3 m EBITDA EUR 73.7 m EUR 48.4 m EUR 152.2 m EUR 100.2 m Operating profit before exceptional items EUR 56.6 m EUR 30.5 m EUR 118.2 m EUR 64.8 m Operating margin 8.4 % 5.7 % 9.2 % 6.0 % Operating profit after exceptional items EUR 55.1 m EUR 30.5 m EUR 116.7 m EUR 64.8 m Profit for the period EUR 34.6 m EUR 17.4 m EUR 77.7 m EUR 37.4 m Earnings per share EUR 2.43 EUR 1.19 EUR 5.36 EUR 2.57 Purchases of property, plant and equipment and intangibles (1) EUR 21.3 m EUR 11.5 m EUR 35.5 m EUR 19.1 m Average staff count 8.177 8.798 (1) Excluding goodwill AGRANA Chief Executive Officer Johann Marihart says: "Of course we are very pleased with the first two quarters of the financial year! Although the volatility in raw material markets makes forecasting more difficult, we expect the full financial year to bring revenue growth and a significant rise in operating profit before exceptional items. We invest capital in all three segments to provide solid support for our long-term growth trajectory." Sugar segment Q2 11|12 Q2 10|11 H1 11|12 H1 10|11 Revenue EUR 253.9 m EUR 185.0 m EUR 435.9 m EUR 366.2 m Operating profit before exceptional items EUR 31.6 m EUR 8.7 m EUR 50.6 m EUR 12.3 m Operating margin 11.4 % 3.4 % 11.6 % 3.4 % Revenue in the Sugar segment grew by 19.0%. The rise in world market prices and the dependence on imports from the world market created by the European Union´s sugar policy sharply drove up the EU price level. While the supply was tight, sales volumes of quota sugar were steady. Through timely raw material procurement, AGRANA was able to honour all agreements with customers regarding prices and quantities. These measures, combined with vigorous marketing and the agile seizing of market opportunities - such as the scope for additional imports and the sale of non-quota sugar on the EU food market upon approval by the European Commission - led to a pronounced increase in pre-exceptionals operating profit. Starch segment Q2 11|12 Q2 10|11 H1 11|12 H1 10|11 Revenue EUR 194.4 m EUR 137.2 m EUR 387.7 m EUR 272.6 m Operating profit before exceptional items EUR 13.7 m EUR 15.5 m EUR 36.2 m EUR 30.8 m Operating margin 7.0 % 11.3 % 9.3 % 11.3 % The Starch segment´s revenue growth of 42.2% in the first six months resulted mainly from higher selling prices. Also in volume terms, the prior-year period was slightly surpassed. Therefore, the increase in raw material prices could be compensated which allowed operating profit before exceptional items to rise by 17.5%. The restricted physical supply in the sugar market also had the effect of boosting sales of starch saccharification products. Fruit segment Q2 11|12 Q210|11 H1 11|12 H1 10|11 Revenue EUR 223.6 m EUR 210.6 m EUR 461.1 m EUR 434.5 m Operating profit before exceptional items EUR 13.8 m EUR 8.9 m EUR 31.4 m EUR 21.7 m Operating margin 6.2 % 4.2 % 6.8 % 5.0 % Revenue in the Fruit segment increased by 6.1% in the first half of the financial year. In fruit preparations, upward price adjustments largely offset lower sales volumes. In the fruit juice concentrate activities, prices were stable at a high absolute level while quantities eased somewhat. Operating profit in the Fruit segment was up by 44.7% thanks to the strong results in fruit juice concentrates. Outlook For the full 2011|12 financial year, based on the strong results of the first six months, AGRANA expects an expansion in Group revenue and a significant increase in pre-exceptionals operating profit. We expect that the operating profit improvement should be driven primarily by the Sugar and Starch segments and that it should be achieved by a range of measures that also include further process optimisation and energy efficiency gains. The volatility in raw material prices though makes it difficult to arrive at exact forecasts for the second half of the year. This press release as well as the half-year report 2011/12 is also available on AGRANA´s website at www.agrana.com. Further inquiry note: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG Mag.(FH) Hannes Haider Investor Relations Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12905 e-mail:hannes.haider@agrana.com Mag.(FH) Christine Göller Public Relations Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12084 e-mail: christine.goeller@agrana.com end of announcement euro adhoc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- company: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG Donau-City-Straße 9 A-1220 Wien phone: +43-1-21137-0 FAX: +43-1-21137-12045 mail: info.ab@agrana.com WWW: www.agrana.com sector: Food ISIN: AT0000603709 indexes: WBI, ATX Prime stockmarkets: Präsenzhandel: Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, official market: Wien language: English
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