DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5

Südzucker Confirms Decline In First-Quarter Earnings

By Dayeeta Das
Share this article
Südzucker Confirms Decline In First-Quarter Earnings

Südzucker, Europe's largest sugar producer, confirmed lower first-quarter earnings on the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but expects profits will rise in its full financial year.

Südzucker reaffirmed that group operating profit dropped to €49 million ($57.79 million) in the first quarter ending 31 May in its 2021/22 year, down from €61 million last year.

The result was burdened by its key sugar sector. Higher sugar sales revenues were offset by increased sugar production costs and lower retail sales volumes, it said

Quarterly Performance

Turnover rose to €1.75 billion from €1.66 billion last year. The company had made a limited advanced announcement of earnings on 16 June.

Group EBITDA amounted to €121 million, €13 million lower than the same period last year (previous year: €134 million).

ADVERTISEMENT

Südzucker affirmed that it still expects full-year group operating profits of €300 million to €400 million, up from €236 million the previous year.

Other Highlights

Revenues in the sugar unit increased moderately to €595 million, from €565 million last year.

In the CropEnergies segment, revenues increased significantly to €195 million, from €162 million in the first quarter of the previous year.

The company’s fruit division reported a moderate revenue growth to €321 million from €304 million last year.

ADVERTISEMENT

The total beet cultivation area for the 2021 campaign increased to 353,600 ha, up almost 3.1% compared to the previous year.

Südzucker added that the main planting campaign kicked off at the end of March, with initially good seeding conditions.

However, late frosts and generally cool temperatures in April and May delayed beet development.

News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM. For more A-Brands news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.