EANS-News: AGRANA EBIT up 26.6% year-on-year after three financial quarters

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Subtitle: EBIT rises in all segments

quarterly report/9-month report

In the first three quarters of the 2016|17 financial year, AGRANA
Beteiligungs- AG achieved year-on-year growth of 3.1% in Group
revenue to EUR 1,967.5 million (Q1-Q3 prior year: EUR 1,908.0
million). Operating profit (EBIT) rose substantially to EUR 137.7
million, an increase of 26.6% from one year earlier. AGRANA CEO
Johann Marihart is pleased with the interim results: "The AGRANA
Group continued its positive trajectory of the current 2016|17
financial year and already surpassed the EBIT of the full year
2015|16 after the first three quarters. All three segments
contributed to the significant earnings improvement. In the Sugar and
Fruit segments, higher sales prices carried the good performance. In
the Starch segment, productivity gains and larger sales volumes were
beneficial for our margins."

AGRANA consolidated financial resultsfor the first three quarters of
2016|17 (1 March to 30 November 2016) EUR million, except %

Q1-3 2016|17 Q1-3 2015|16
Revenue 1,976.5 1,908.0
EBITDA* 183.9 154.1
Operating profit** 121.6 90.8
Share of results of equity-accounted joint ventures 23.7 19.7
Exceptional items (7.6) (1.7)
Operating profit (EBIT) 137.7 108.8
EBIT margin 7.0% 5.7%
Net financial items (13.3) (16.3)
Income tax (29.2) (21.6)
Profit for the period 95.2 81.2
Investment*** 69.6 78.8

Q3 2016|17 Q3 2015|16
Revenue 647.2 644.5
EBITDA* 69.7 61.0
Operating profit** 43.3 32.8
Share of results of equity-accounted joint ventures 8.7 7.7
Exceptional items (4.7) (0.4)
Operating profit (EBIT) 47.3 40.1
EBIT margin 7.2% 6.2%
Net financial items (3.0) (5.1)
Income tax (11.7) (8.0)
Profit for the period 32.6 26.9
Investment*** 27.2 38.0

*EBITDA represents operating profit before exceptional items, results
of equity- accounted joint ventures, depreciation and amortisation.
**Before exceptional items and results of equity-accounted joint
ventures ***Investment represents purchases of property, plant and
equipment and intangible assets, excluding goodwill.

Net financial items of the AGRANA Group in the first three quarters
of 2016|17 amounted to a net expense of EUR 13.3 million (Q1-Q3 prior
year: net expense of EUR 16.3 million); the improvement resulted
primarily from net currency translation gains. After an income tax
expense of EUR 29.2 million, corresponding to a tax rate of
approximately 23.5% (Q1-Q3 prior year: 23.4%), profit for the period
was EUR 95.2 million (Q1-Q3 prior year: EUR 70.8 million). Earnings
per share attributable to AGRANA shareholders increased to EUR 6.29
(Q1-Q3 prior year: EUR 4.97).

Net debt at 30 November 2016 was EUR 382.0 million, or EUR 23.8
million less than the 2015|16 year-end level. The gearing ratio thus
eased to 30.8% as of the quarterly balance sheet date (29 February
2016: 33.8%).

Results in the Sugar, Starch and Fruit segments

Sugar segment

Q1-3 2016|17 Q1-3 2015|16
Revenue 532.5 540.5
Operating profit (EBIT) 23.1 10.4
EBIT margin 4.3% 1.9%

Q3 2016|17 Q3 2015|16
Revenue 180.5 195.5
Operating profit (EBIT) 4.8 4.0
EBIT margin 2.7% 2.0%

Sugar segment revenue in the first three quarters of 2016|17 declined
slightly year-on-year, easing by 1.5% to EUR 532.5 million. Higher
sugar sales prices were more than offset by lower sales volumes that
resulted from the smaller- than-average beet crop of the prior year.
The fact that EBIT more than doubled from one year earlier to EUR
23.1 million was due particularly to higher spot selling prices in
Eastern Europe.

Starch segment

Q1-3 2016|17 Q1-3 2015|16
Revenue 551.9 544.0
Operating profit (EBIT) 58.0 52.9
EBIT margin 10.5% 9.7%

Q3 2016|17 Q3 2015|16
Revenue 188.8 191.3
Operating profit (EBIT) 26.0 21.8
EBIT margin 13.8% 11.4%

Revenue in the Starch segment in the first nine months of 2016|17 was
EUR 551.9 million, or 1.5% above the year-ago value. Revenue growth
was achieved as a result of increased production and higher sales
volumes. EBIT of EUR 58.0 million surpassed the already good
year-earlier result by 9.6%. This profit growth was made possible
mainly by lower raw material costs for grains and by reduced energy
costs.

Fruit segment

Q1-3 2016|17 Q1-3 2015|16
Revenue 883.1 823.5
Operating profit (EBIT) 56.6 45.5
EBIT margin 6.4% 5.5%

Q3 2016|17 Q3 2015|16
Revenue 277.9 257.7
Operating profit (EBIT) 16.5 14.3
EBIT margin 5.9% 5.5%

Fruit segment revenue in the first three quarters of 2016|17 expanded
by 7.2% year-on-year to EUR 883.1 million. EBIT, at EUR 56.6 million,
grew by 24.4% from the prior year's comparative period. The
significant earnings improvement was driven both by the fruit juice
concentrate business (due to higher prices for apple juice
concentrates made from the 2015 crop) and by the fruit preparations
activities (through growth in sales volumes).

Outlook

For the full 2016|17 financial year, AGRANA continues to expect a
moderate increase in Group revenue and a significant improvement in
EBIT. The Group's capital investment of EUR 126 million in 2016|17
will again be markedly higher than depreciation of about EUR 85
million.

About AGRANA

AGRANA converts agricultural raw materials into high-quality foods
and numerous industrial intermediate products. About 8,600 employees
at more than 50 production sites worldwide generate annual Group
sales of around EUR 2.5 billion. Established in 1988, the company
today is the leading sugar producer in Central and Eastern Europe,
and its Starch segment is a major European manufacturer of specialty
products, as well as the largest producer of bioethanol in Austria.
AGRANA is also the world market leader in fruit preparations and
Europe's largest maker of fruit juice concentrates.

This announcement is available in German and English 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) Markus Simak
Pressesprecher
Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12084
e-mail: markus.simak@agrana.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
F.-W.-Raiffeisen-Platz 1
A-1020 Wien
phone: +43-1-21137-0
FAX: +43-1-21137-12926
mail: info.ab@agrana.com
WWW: www.agrana.com
sector: Food
ISIN: AT0000603709
indexes: WBI, ATX Prime
stockmarkets: Präsenzhandel: Berlin, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, official market: Wien
language: English

Original-Content von: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell