Südzucker increases dividend to EUR 0.55

In the annual general meeting of Südzucker AG Mannheim/Ochsenfurt on July 21, 2011 the shareholders agreed to the recommendation of the supervisory and executive boards that the dividend be increased to EUR 0.55 (prior year: 0.45) per share. The total distributed thus rises to EUR 104.1 (prior year: 85.2) million. The dividend increase reflects the significantly higher profits.

The executive board confirms with the outlook for the 2011/12 financial year the forecasts made to date. Südzucker expects an increase of group revenues to around EUR 6.5 (prior year: 6.2) billion and a group operating profit of more than EUR 600 (prior year: 519) million. The boost in earnings will be driven by the CropEnergies and fruit segments, but predominantly by the sugar segment.