EQS-News: AGRANA starts 2023|24 financial year with growth in revenue and EBIT
EQS-News: AGRANA Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft / Key word(s): Quarter
Results/Quarterly / Interim Statement
AGRANA starts 2023|24 financial year with growth in revenue and EBIT
06.07.2023 / 07:30 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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AGRANA starts 2023|24 financial year with growth in revenue and EBIT
Financial first quarter of 2023|24 at a glance
• Revenue: € 966.1 million (Q1 prior year: € 886.3 million)
• EBIT: € 63.5 million (Q1 prior year: € 51.6 million)
• EBIT margin: 6.6% (Q1 prior year: 5.8%)
• Profit for the period: € 38.0 million (Q1 prior year: € 36.1 million)
• Equity ratio: 42.3% (28 February 2023: 41.8%)
In the first quarter of the 2023|24 financial year (the three months ended
31 May 2023), AGRANA, the fruit, starch and sugar company, achieved very
significant growth of 23.1% in operating profit (EBIT) to € 63.5 million.
Revenue increased by 9.0% to € 966.1 million. “We have made a successful
start to the 2023|24 financial year and are especially pleased with the
continuing healthy profit trend in the Sugar segment and the good
performance in the Fruit segment, where structural measures to boost
profitability of the fruit preparations business are already producing
results. In the Starch segment, the expectation of a challenging financial
year was proved correct in the first three months. EBIT declined
significantly in this business segment, due especially to a lower ethanol
performance driven by sales prices,” explains AGRANA CEO Markus Mühleisen.
Results in each business segment for the first quarter of 2023|24
FRUIT segment
The Fruit segment’s revenue in the first quarter was € 401.1 million, up
11.2% from one year earlier. The revenue expansion both in the fruit
preparations and fruit juice concentrate businesses was the result of
price changes. EBIT of the segment as a whole increased to € 24.4 million
in the first three months of the financial year (Q1 prior year: € 19.9
million). The earnings result in fruit preparations was significantly
above the year-ago level. The improvement was attributable mainly to a
positive business performance in the Europe region. The fruit juice
concentrate business as well further grew its earnings compared to the
already very good year-earlier quarter. This was driven by improved
contribution margins of apple juice concentrate made from the 2022 crop.
STARCH segment
The Starch segment’s revenue of € 317.1 million in the first quarter was
steady year-on-year (Q1 prior year: € 319.1 million), as lower sales
volumes coincided with higher selling prices. Across most product
categories, customers now are not fully utilising sales contracts that
were concluded in fall and winter 2022 against the backdrop of the
then-prevailing tight availability and resulting high market prices.
Demand for native and modified food starches as well as saccharification
products is more restrained, even in the normally stable food market. Many
customers are facing weaker consumption and are increasingly running down
their inventories. At € 22.1 million, EBIT in the Starch segment was down
significantly from one year earlier (Q1 prior year: € 29.3 million). A key
reason lay in the low-margin ethanol business, as a result of a
considerable decline in Platts quotations.
SUGAR segment
Revenue in the Sugar segment was € 247.9 million, up 20.0% from the first
quarter of the previous year. This growth was driven by a substantial
increase in sugar selling prices. EBIT, at € 17.0 million, represented a
marked improvement from the year-earlier period. The Sugar segment’s very
good EBIT in the first quarter of 2023|24 reflected the significantly
increased sugar sales prices in particular, as well as many reorganisation
measures taken previously.
The detailed financial results are provided in the interim statement for
the first quarter of 2023|24 at [1] https://www.agrana.com/en/ir/.
Outlook
For the 2023|24 financial year, AGRANA expects a very significant increase
in operating profit (EBIT). Group revenue is projected to show significant
growth. Key sources of uncertainty for the forecast remain the war in
Ukraine and its consequences. Given the unpredictability of the further
course of the war, effects such as exceptional cost increases and demand
declines cannot be ruled out. Since the outbreak of the war, the
volatility in the Group’s product markets and procurement markets has
further intensified. AGRANA expects that, through adjusted customer
contracts, it will be able to pass on the increased prices paid,
especially for raw materials and energy.
The Group’s total investment in the 2023|24 financial year, at
approximately € 150 million, is to significantly exceed both the 2022|23
value and this year’s budgeted depreciation of about € 120 million.
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
€ 3.6 billion. Established in 1988, the company is the world market leader
in fruit preparations and the foremost producer of fruit juice
concentrates in Europe. 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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06.07.2023 CET/CEST This Corporate News was distributed by EQS Group AG.
www.eqs.com
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Language: English
Company: AGRANA Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft
F.-W.-Raiffeisen-Platz 1
A-1020 Wien
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: 1673613
End of News EQS News Service
1673613 06.07.2023 CET/CEST
References
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2. markus.simak@agrana.com
3. hannes.haider@agrana.com
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