Südzucker with dividend increase

In the annual general meeting of Südzucker AG Mannheim/Ochsenfurt, Mannheim, on July 20, 2010 the shareholders agreed to the recommendation of the executive and supervisory boards that the dividend be increased to 0.45 (prior year: 0.40) euro per share. The total distributed thus rises to 85.2 (prior year: 75.7) million euro. This dividend increase reflects the profit recovery and end of the restructuring phase in the European sugar market.

Südzucker confirms its full-year guidance for financial year 2010/11 with group revenues on prior`s level at 5.7 billion euro. We act on the assumption that the sugar segment will see a further decline. In contrast the special products and CropEnergies segments' revenues are expected to rise while the fruit segment's revenue is expected to rise slightly. The forecast for operating profit is about 450 (prior year: 403) million euro. We are expecting the sugar segment's operating profit recovery to continue in the first full year after completion of the restructuring phase in the EU sugar market. We are also expecting higher operating profits in the CropEnergies and Fruit segments. We do not expect the special products segment to be able to match the high prior year's level.