EQS-News: AGRANA Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft / Key word(s): Quarter
Results/Quarterly / Interim Statement
AGRANA: Challenging market environment weighs on results in financial
first quarter
11.07.2024 / 07:30 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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AGRANA: Challenging market environment weighs on results in financial
first quarter
Financial first quarter of 2024|25 at a glance
• Revenue: € 944.3 million (Q1 prior year: € 966.1 million)
• EBIT: € 32.3 million (Q1 prior year: € 63.5 million)
• EBIT margin: 3.4% (Q1 prior year: 6.6%)
• Profit for the period: € 16.1 million (Q1 prior year: € 38.0 million)
• Equity ratio: 46.7% (29 February 2024: 43.2%)
In the first quarter of the 2024|25 financial year (the three months ended
31 May 2024), AGRANA, the fruit, starch and sugar company, generated
operating profit (EBIT) of € 32.3 million, a significant reduction of
49.1% from the first quarter of the prior year. Revenue eased slightly, by
2.3%, to € 944.3 million. “After the robust results of the full year
2023|24, as expected we had a weaker start to the 2024|25 financial year.
The significant decline in profit resulted from the highly challenging
market environment in the Sugar and Starch segments, where sales prices
fell. Business in the Fruit segment was better, leading to a significant
increase in Fruit EBIT,” says AGRANA Chief Executive Officer Stephan
Büttner.
Results in each business segment for the first quarter of 2024|25
FRUIT segment
The Fruit segment’s revenue in the first quarter was € 415.6 million, up
3.6% from the same period one year earlier. The increase occurred both in
the fruit preparations and fruit juice concentrate businesses and resulted
from volume growth.
EBIT of the segment as a whole grew to € 27.0 million in the first three
months of the financial year (Q1 prior year: € 24.4 million). In the fruit
preparations activities, EBIT was significantly above the year-ago level.
The improvement was attributable partly to a positive business performance
in the Europe region (including Ukraine) and in Mexico.
STARCH segment
Revenue in the Starch segment in the first quarter was € 265.5 million, a
reduction of 16.3% from the year-earlier comparative period (Q1 prior
year: € 317.1 million), when the war in Ukraine had led to powerful
increases in market prices. Owing to the decline in raw material and
energy prices, market prices for the segment’s products decreased
noticeably year-on-year, which impacted the selling prices obtained for
the entire Starch portfolio. Ethanol sales prices, for instance, fell by
about 25% amid a substantial drop in Platts quotations.
At € 9.4 million, EBIT in the Starch segment was down very significantly
year-on-year. A key reason for this was the margin decline in starch and
saccharification products driven by significantly lower sales prices for
core and by-products.
SUGAR segment
Sugar segment revenue was € 263.2 million, up 6.2% from the first quarter
of the previous year. The negative effect of lower sugar sales prices was
more than made up for by higher sales volumes. The trajectory of the sugar
market was most recently driven by the sugar imports from Ukraine and the
expectation of increased EU sugar production in the 2024/25 campaign.
The Sugar EBIT result in the financial first quarter was a deficit of
€ 4.1 million, a pronounced deterioration from the year-earlier period.
This reflected especially the significant fall in sugar selling prices,
which was steepest in the regions heavily affected by the imports of
Ukrainian sugar.
Outlook
For the full 2024|25 financial year, AGRANA expects a significant
reduction in operating profit (EBIT) compared to the previous year. Group
revenue is projected to show a moderate decrease.
Total investment across the three business segments in the 2024|25
financial year, at approximately € 120 million, is to be moderately below
the 2023|24 value and in line with budgeted depreciation. About 12% of
this capital expenditure will be for emission reduction measures in the
Group’s own production operations under the AGRANA climate strategy.
The detailed financial results are provided in the interim statement for
the first quarter of 2024|25 at (1) https://www.agrana.com/en/ir/.
About AGRANA
AGRANA converts agricultural raw materials into high-quality foods and
numerous industrial intermediate products. About 9,000 employees at 55
production sites worldwide generate annual Group revenue of approximately
€ 3.8 billion. Established in 1988, the company is the global market
leader in fruit preparations and the world’s leading producer of apple and
berry juice concentrates. As well, its Starch segment is a major
manufacturer of custom starch products (made from potato, corn and wheat)
and of bioethanol. AGRANA is the leading sugar producer in Central and
Eastern Europe.
For queries, please contact:
Markus Simak
Public Relations
+43 1 21137 12084
(2)markus.simak@agrana.com
Hannes Haider
Investor Relations
+43 1 21137 12905
(3)hannes.haider@agrana.com
This announcement is available in German and English at (4) www.agrana.com.
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11.07.2024 CET/CEST This Corporate News was distributed by EQS Group AG.
www.eqs.com
════════════════════════════════════════ ══════════ ════════════════════════ Language: English Company: AGRANA Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft F.-W.-Raiffeisen-Platz 1 A-1020 Vienna Austria Phone: +43-1-21137-0 Fax: +43-1-21137-12926 E-mail: investor.relations@agrana.com
Internet: www.agrana.com
ISIN: AT000AGRANA3
WKN: A2NB37
Listed: Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt,
Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange; Vienna Stock Exchange
(Official Market)
EQS News ID: 1943739
End of News EQS News Service
1943739 11.07.2024 CET/CEST
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