Südzucker reports strong first half

Südzucker AG Mannheim/Ochsenfurt, based in Mannheim, boosted group revenues in the first half of the current financial year 2010/11 (March 1 to August 31, 2010) by about five percent compared to the same period last year: from 2.9 to 3.1 billion euro. The special products, CropEnergies and fruit segments in particular contributed to the increase. The sugar segment's revenues declined as expected in the second quarter on the heels of the strong export-driven first quarter.

Group operating profit jumped 57 percent, from 179 to 282 million euro. This growth was driven especially by sugar exports to non-EU countries as a result of the one-time quota increase set by the EU in the first quarter. Also all other segments contributed to this earnings improvement.

Südzucker was able to reduce net debt as of August 31, 2010 by 186 million to 776 million euro from last year's 962 million euro.

The company now expects the group's revenues for fiscal 2010/11 overall to rise slightly year-over-year and come in at around 5.8 billion (last year: 5.7) euro. While revenues in the sugar segment will again be lower, higher revenues are expected from the special products, CropEnergies and fruit segments.

An operating profit of more than 450 (last year: 403) million euro is forecast. The sugar segment's operating profit recovery will continue in the first full year after completion of the EU sugar market restructuring phase. An operating profit increase is also expected in the CropEnergies and fruit segments. Given the excellent performance during the first half year, the special product segment's operating profit is now only expected to be slightly below last year's.