EANS-News: AGRANA: strong results for first half of 2011|12

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quarterly report/6-month report

Wien (euro adhoc) - In the first half of the 2011|12 financial year
(ended 31 August 2011), AGRANA markedly boosted both revenue (by
19.7% to EUR 1,284.7 million) and operating profit before exceptional
items (by 82.4% to EUR 118.2 million). All three segments - Sugar,
Starch and Fruit - contributed to this growth. It reflects both the
rewards of the optimisation measures taken in the previous years, and
good market conditions for the Group during the first six months of
this financial year.

As a result of the dissolution of two Chinese joint ventures in the
fruit juice concentrate business, exceptional items amounted to a net
expense of about EUR 1.5 million. After a net financial items expense
of EUR 17.9 million and a tax expense of EUR 21.2 million (based on a
tax rate of 21.4%), the Group´s profit for the period was EUR 77.7
million. In the first six months, the Group was able to reduce its
net debt by 7.9% to EUR 352.2 million. The equity ratio improved to
50.6% and the ratio of net debt to total equity, at 35.1%, was
significantly lower than on 28 February 2011.

AGRANA - IFRS results for the period ended 31 August

Q2 11|12 Q2 10|11 H1 11|12 H1 10|11
Revenue EUR 671.8 m EUR 532.9 m EUR 1,284.7 m EUR 1,073.3 m
EBITDA EUR 73.7 m EUR 48.4 m EUR 152.2 m EUR 100.2 m
Operating profit before
exceptional items EUR 56.6 m EUR 30.5 m EUR 118.2 m EUR 64.8 m
Operating margin 8.4 % 5.7 % 9.2 % 6.0 %
Operating profit after
exceptional items EUR 55.1 m EUR 30.5 m EUR 116.7 m EUR 64.8 m
Profit for the period EUR 34.6 m EUR 17.4 m EUR 77.7 m EUR 37.4 m
Earnings per share EUR 2.43 EUR 1.19 EUR 5.36 EUR 2.57
Purchases of property,
plant and equipment
and intangibles (1) EUR 21.3 m EUR 11.5 m EUR 35.5 m EUR 19.1 m
Average staff count 8.177 8.798

(1) Excluding goodwill

AGRANA Chief Executive Officer Johann Marihart says: "Of course we
are very pleased with the first two quarters of the financial year!
Although the volatility in raw material markets makes forecasting
more difficult, we expect the full financial year to bring revenue
growth and a significant rise in operating profit before exceptional
items. We invest capital in all three segments to provide solid
support for our long-term growth trajectory."

Sugar segment

Q2 11|12 Q2 10|11 H1 11|12 H1 10|11
Revenue EUR 253.9 m EUR 185.0 m EUR 435.9 m EUR 366.2 m
Operating profit before
exceptional items EUR 31.6 m EUR 8.7 m EUR 50.6 m EUR 12.3 m
Operating margin 11.4 % 3.4 % 11.6 % 3.4 %

Revenue in the Sugar segment grew by 19.0%. The rise in world market prices and
the dependence on imports from the world market created by the European Union´s
sugar policy sharply drove up the EU price level. While the supply was tight,
sales volumes of quota sugar were steady. Through timely raw material
procurement, AGRANA was able to honour all agreements with customers regarding
prices and quantities. These measures, combined with vigorous marketing and the
agile seizing of market opportunities - such as the scope for additional imports
and the sale of non-quota sugar on the EU food market upon approval by the
European Commission - led to a pronounced increase in pre-exceptionals operating
profit.

Starch segment
Q2 11|12 Q2 10|11 H1 11|12 H1 10|11
Revenue EUR 194.4 m EUR 137.2 m EUR 387.7 m EUR 272.6 m
Operating profit before
exceptional items EUR 13.7 m EUR 15.5 m EUR 36.2 m EUR 30.8 m
Operating margin 7.0 % 11.3 % 9.3 % 11.3 %

The Starch segment´s revenue growth of 42.2% in the first six months
resulted mainly from higher selling prices. Also in volume terms, the
prior-year period was slightly surpassed. Therefore, the increase in
raw material prices could be compensated which allowed operating
profit before exceptional items to rise by 17.5%. The restricted
physical supply in the sugar market also had the effect of boosting
sales of starch saccharification products.

Fruit segment

Q2 11|12 Q210|11 H1 11|12 H1 10|11
Revenue EUR 223.6 m EUR 210.6 m EUR 461.1 m EUR 434.5 m
Operating profit before
exceptional items EUR 13.8 m EUR 8.9 m EUR 31.4 m EUR 21.7 m
Operating margin 6.2 % 4.2 % 6.8 % 5.0 %

Revenue in the Fruit segment increased by 6.1% in the first half of the
financial year. In fruit preparations, upward price adjustments largely offset
lower sales volumes. In the fruit juice concentrate activities, prices were
stable at a high absolute level while quantities eased somewhat. Operating
profit in the Fruit segment was up by 44.7% thanks to the strong results in
fruit juice concentrates.

Outlook

For the full 2011|12 financial year, based on the strong results of
the first six months, AGRANA expects an expansion in Group revenue
and a significant increase in pre-exceptionals operating profit. We
expect that the operating profit improvement should be driven
primarily by the Sugar and Starch segments and that it should be
achieved by a range of measures that also include further process
optimisation and energy efficiency gains. The volatility in raw
material prices though makes it difficult to arrive at exact
forecasts for the second half of the year.

This press release as well as the half-year report 2011/12 is also
available on AGRANA´s website at www.agrana.com.

Further inquiry note:
AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
Mag.(FH) Hannes Haider
Investor Relations
Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12905
e-mail:hannes.haider@agrana.com

Mag.(FH) Christine Göller
Public Relations
Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12084
e-mail: christine.goeller@agrana.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
Donau-City-Straße 9
A-1220 Wien
phone: +43-1-21137-0
FAX: +43-1-21137-12045
mail: info.ab@agrana.com
WWW: www.agrana.com
sector: Food
ISIN: AT0000603709
indexes: WBI, ATX Prime
stockmarkets: Präsenzhandel: Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, official market: Wien
language: English