EQS-News: AGRANA: Challenging market environment weighs on results in financial first quarter

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][email protected]

   Hannes Haider
   Investor Relations
   +43 1 21137 12905
   [3][email protected]
    

   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 Wien
                Austria
   Phone:       +43-1-21137-0
   Fax:         +43-1-21137-12926
   E-mail:      [email protected]
   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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