EANS-News: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG generates revenue of € 2.5 billion and operating profit of € 78.7 million, with earnings of € 0.96 per share

Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.

Dividend proposal of € 0.85 per share

Annual Result

Vienna – 2020|21 financial year at a glance*

• Revenue: EUR 2,547.0 million (+2.7%; prior year: EUR 2,480.7 million)
• Operating profit (EBIT): EUR 78.7 million (+17.6%; prior year: EUR 66.9 million)
• Earnings per share: EUR 0.96 (+113.3%; prior year: EUR 0.45)
• Equity ratio: 53.8% (prior year: 54.0%)
• Dividend proposal for 2020|21: EUR 0.85 per share (prior-year dividend: EUR 0.77 per share)

In the 2020|21 financial year, AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG achieved a slight increase in Group revenue to EUR 2,547.0 million. Operating profit (EBIT), at EUR 78.7 million, rose 17.6% from the prior year. In the year under review, the Covid-19 pandemic was the defining factor for all business segments. In the Fruit segment, earnings of the fruit preparations business were up from a year ago despite one-off effects. In the fruit juice concentrate business, by contrast, poor apple harvests coincided with pandemic-related weak demand, especially in the food service and tourism sectors, which led to a significantly reduced earnings performance. In the Starch segment, reduced starch volumes sold to the graphic paper industry (the print sector) were offset by increased sales to corrugated cardboard manufacturers (packaging). Starch margins on balance were lower for demand reasons and the segment’s operating performance was thus down from the prior year. In the Sugar segment, higher sugar prices and volumes contributed to a significant year-on-year improvement in the – albeit still negative – bottom line.
„Despite the extraordinary conditions created by the Covid-19 pandemic, we delivered solid results in the last financial year. Overall, what is once again clear is that our stable business performance is due in large part to the diversification of our business segments,“ says AGRANA Chief Executive Officer Johann Marihart.

AGRANA Group results
EUR million, except %

FY 2020|21 FY 2019|20*
Revenue 2,547.0 2,480.7
EBITDA** 191.2 183.1
Operating profit*** 73.1 73.1
Share of results of equity-accounted joint ventures 17.5 16.7
Operating profit (EBIT) 78.7 66.9
EBIT margin 3.1% 2.7%
Profit for the period 55.0 31.2
Earnings per share 0.96 0.45
Investment**** 72.3 149.7
Number 8,847 9,342
of employees*****

The higher net financial items expense of EUR 17.2 million (prior year: net expense of EUR 15.4 million) was due to a rise in net interest expense from EUR 5.5 million in the prior year to EUR 8.4 million. This in turn was attributable primarily to an increase of EUR 150 million in average debt and to an additional interest expense of about EUR 1.0 million resulting from the initial application of IFRS 16, Leases. Profit before tax increased from the prior year’s EUR 51.2 million to EUR 69.9 million. After an income tax expense of EUR 18.6 million, representing a tax rate of 26.6% (prior year: 40.7%), the Group’s profit for the period was EUR 51.3 million (prior year: EUR 30.4 million).

With total assets of EUR 2,549.4 million that were EUR 160.0 million higher than one year earlier, the Group had an equity ratio of 54.4%, which was 4.6 percentage points below the prior-year level. Net debt as of 29 February 2020 amounted to EUR 464.0 million, up EUR 141.8 million from the 2018|19 year-end level. The gearing ratio at the balance sheet date was 33.5% (28 February 2019:
22.9%). Consistent with AGRANA’s transparent dividend policy, under which distributions are based on the Group’s profit and cash flow as well as its debt situation and the need to maintain a sound balance sheet structure, and which also takes into account current events and the expected future business trajectory, the Management Board will propose to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting to pay a dividend of EUR 0.77 per share for the 2019|20 financial year (prior-year dividend: EUR 1.00 per share).

FRUIT segment

FY 2020|21 FY 2019|20
Revenue 1,166.6 1,185.5
Operating profit (EBIT) 41.2 55.9
EBIT margin 3.5% 4.7%

The Fruit segment’s overall revenue eased slightly, by 1.6%, compared to the prior year. The main reason for this lay in lower sales volume in the fruit preparations activities. EBIT in the Fruit segment decreased by 26.4% from the year-ago value. The significant earnings decline was primarily due to a deteriorated margin and sales situation in the fruit juice concentrate business as well as significantly reduced capacity utilisation at the plants in the 2020 processing season as a result of the lower apple harvest volumes.

STARCH segment

FY 2020|21 FY 2019|20
Revenue 821.9 807.0
Operating profit (EBIT) 64.8 75.2
EBIT margin 7.9% 9.3%

In a highly volatile business environment, Starch segment revenue rose by 1.8% compared to the prior year. While a moderate increase in sales volumes was achieved for the core products, market demand for saccharification products saw a Covid-19-driven decline. The Platts quotations for bioethanol averaged EUR 585 per cubic metre over the year, or about EUR 35 less than in the year before. EBIT for the Starch segment decreased by 13.8% from the prior year.

SUGAR segment

FY 2020|21 FY 2019|20*
Revenue 558.5 488.3
Operating profit (EBIT) (27.3) (64.2)
EBIT margin (4.9%) (13.1%)

Revenue in the Sugar segment grew by 14.4% in the financial year. This growth was attributable both to higher sugar selling prices and increased sugar sales volumes, especially with food retailers. Although EBIT was still negative, it marked a substantial improvement from the prior year thanks to the better sugar prices.

Outlook

Despite the continuing substantial challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the AGRANA Group expects its EBIT to rise significantly in the 2021|22 financial year. Group revenue is projected to show moderate growth. Total investment across the three business segments in the financial year, at approximately EUR 91 million, will run significantly below the budgeted depreciation of about EUR 121 million.

Personalia

The composition of the Management Board of AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG is set to change following the appointment of a new board member nominated by Südzucker AG. Ingrid-Helen Arnold (52), MBA has been appointed by the Supervisory Board of AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG to become a member of the Management Board of AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG for a term in office extending from 1 June 2021 to 30 April 2024. Originating from Munich, this Südzucker AG board member will assume responsibility for the area of internal audits and replace Thomas Kölbl in this role who is stepping down from the Management Board of AGRANA on 31 May to focus fully on his position as CFO of Südzucker AG. The Supervisory Board wishes to express its particular thanks to Thomas Kölbl for his more than 15 years on the Management Board of AGRANA.

About AGRANA

AGRANA converts agricultural raw materials into high-quality foods and numerous industrial intermediate products. About 9,000 employees at 56 production sites worldwide generate annual Group revenue of approximately EUR 2.5 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.

This announcement is available in German and English at www.agrana.com [https:// www.agrana.com/en].

*The prior-year data have been restated under IAS 8.

**EBITDA represents operating profit before exceptional items, results of equity-accounted joint ventures, and operating depreciation and amortisation.

***Operating profit before exceptional items and results of equity-accounted joint ventures

****Investment represents purchases of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, excluding goodwill.

*****Average number of full-time equivalents in the financial year.

end of announcement euro adhoc

issuer: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
F.-W.-Raiffeisen-Platz 1
A-1020 Wien
phone: +43-1-21137-0
FAX: +43-1-21137-12926
mail: info.ab@agrana.com
WWW: www.agrana.com
ISIN: AT000AGRANA3
indexes: WBI
stockmarkets: Stuttgart, Berlin, Frankfurt, Wien
language: English

Digital press kit: http://www.ots.at/pressemappe/4/aom