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

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