Hoersholm, 2017-07-05 08:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Company announcement no.10/2017
YTD 2016/17 in brief
Strong organic revenue growth of 10% in the first nine months of 2016/17: Food Cultures & Enzymes 9%, Health & Nutrition 12% and Natural Colors 9%. EBIT before special items has increased by 15% to EUR 217 million. In Q3, organic growth reached 10%: Food Cultures & Enzymes 10%, Health & Nutrition 14% and Natural Colors 6%. EBIT before special items has increased by 15% to EUR 82 million.
| EUR million | Q3 2016/17 | Q3 2015/16 | Growth | YTD 2016/17 | YTD 2015/16 | Growth |
| Revenue | 278.4 | 249.8 | 11% | 779.5 | 693.1 | 12% |
| EBIT before special items | 81.6 | 71.0 | 15% | 217.2 | 188.9 | 15% |
| Profit for the period | 57.9 | 51.6 | 12% | 155.8 | 127.9 | 22% |
| Free cash flow before acquisitions, divestments and special items | 68.4 | 42.0 | 63% | 98.3 | 57.8 | 70% |
| Organic growth, % | 10% | 12% | 10% | 13% | ||
| Gross margin, % | 54.2% | 53.3% | 53.8% | 52.8% | ||
| EBIT margin before special items, % | 29.3% | 28.4% | 27.9% | 27.2% | ||
| ROIC excl. goodwill, % | 39.2% | 37.5% | 37.4% | 36.0% |
“We continue to grow our business with Food Cultures & Enzymes and Health & Nutrition performing slightly better than expected. Based on this we have narrowed our organic revenue expectations for 2016/17 to 9%-10% from previously 8-10%. Both Food Cultures & Enzymes and Natural Colors delivered further improvements in profitability, while Health & Nutrition showed a solid margin progression in Q3. The capacity expansion for dairy cultures in Copenhagen is on track, and we are preparing for the final implementation later this year,” says CEO Cees de Jong.
“It is exciting to see that we are making solid progress in the area of the human microbiome, where we have recently expanded our strain library with lead candidates targeting gastrointestinal, immune and metabolic health. Adding these novel bacterial strains to our portfolio is a major milestone in developing the next-generation probiotics.”
“Given the strong operational performance and free cash flow generation, we have decided to declare an interim dividend totaling EUR 100 million (DKK 5.64 per share). The interim dividend will be paid out on 13 July 2017.”
OUTLOOK FOR 2016/17
The outlook for 2016/17 has been narrowed to the upper end of the range compared to the announcement of 6 April 2017.
Organic revenue growth: 9-10% (previously 8-10%)
EBIT margin before special items: slightly increasing (previously slightly increasing)
Free cash flow before acquisitions, divestments and special items: around EUR 175 million (previously around EUR 175 million)
For further information, please contact:
Martin Riise, Head of Investor Relations
Tel: +45 53 39 22 50
Camilla Lercke, Head of Media Relations
Tel: +45 53 39 23 84
Forward-looking statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, as various factors, many of which are beyond the control of Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, may cause actual developments and results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in this announcement.
About Chr. Hansen
Chr. Hansen is a global bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The products include cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural colors, and all solutions are based on strong research and development competencies coupled with significant technology investments. Revenue in the 2015/16 financial year was EUR 949 million. The company has more than 2,700 dedicated employees in 30 countries and main production facilities in Denmark, France, USA and Germany. Chr. Hansen was founded in 1874 and is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S. For further information, please visit www.chr-hansen.com .
