Record for Nutreco
- As this is the last time I will present Nutreco's results it gives me special satisfaction to report a record first half year with EBITA of EUR 103.6 million, passing EUR 100 million for the first time. Equally, I am pleased to report that both Animal Nutrition and Fish Feed contributed to the success with all business segments performing better than the same period last year, says Wout Dekker.
Highlights:
• Revenue of EUR 2,354.5 million; an increase of 10.8% compared with the first half of 2011, of which 4.7% is organic volume growth
• EBITA Animal Nutrition increased by 22.2% and EBITA Fish Feed up by 24.6%
• Expansion of operations in Brazil by increased shareholding in Fri-Ribe and acquisition of farm mineral company Bellman
• Excellent performance in China both in Animal Nutrition and Fish Feed; strong growth in Shihai fish feed business (acquired in October 2011)
• Earnings per share from continuing operations increased by 45.9%
• Sale of Hendrix substantially completed, gain on sale of EUR 18.9 million
• 2012 interim dividend of EUR 0.60 (2011: EUR 0.50) in cash or shares
• New Executive Board in place from August 2012
New research facility
- The half year saw strong volume growth in Fish Feed, especially for salmon, with shrimp feed further increasing in significance due to the contribution of the Shihai feed business in China acquired in October 2011. To support activities in Asia, Skretting's Aquaculture Research Centre is establishing a research centre close to this plant, says Dekker.
The great potential for aquaculture to expand globally and especially in Asia was one of the key themes of the AquaVision 2012 conference organised by Nutreco. Over 400 delegates from 33 countries heard keynote speaker Kofi Annan state that aquaculture has strong potential to contribute to the reduction of hunger in the world, especially in Africa. He congratulated the industry for its focus on improving productivity and sustainability, saying: "I do not ask you to change direction, but I ask you to accelerate progress." The conference also addressed current developments to overcome the challenges facing aquaculture, including advances such as the MicroBalance(TM) concept of Nutreco's Skretting that is helping to make aquaculture more sustainable."
