EANS-News: AGRANA grows EBIT in financial three quarters of 2019|20

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Quarterly Report

Vienna - First three quarters of 2019|20 at a glance

* Revenue: EUR 1,879.4 million (+0.9%; Q1-Q3 prior year: EUR 1,863.5 million)
* EBIT: EUR 69.8 million (+9.9%; Q1-Q3 prior year: EUR 63.5 million)
* EBIT margin: 3.7% (Q1-Q3 prior year: 3.4%)
* Profit for the period: EUR 43.1 million (+16.5%; Q1-Q3 prior year: EUR 37.0
million)
* Equity ratio: 53.4% (28 February 2019: 59.0%)

Outlook for full year 2019|20

* Forecast for full 2019|20 financial year reaffirmed, with significant EBIT
increase and slight growth in revenue year-on-year
* Investment well above depreciation
* Diversification and specialties are basis for stable Group performance

In the first three quarters of the 2019|20 financial year, AGRANA, the fruit,
starch and sugar company, generated EBIT operating profit of EUR 69.8 million,
already surpassing the result of the full prior year. AGRANA Chief Executive
Officer Johann Marihart comments: "Despite a recent improvement in the sugar
price situation, seen especially in the spot markets in Eastern Europe, higher
campaign costs are again weighing on results in the 2019 beet processing
campaign, as heat and drought led to reduced beet crops. Revenue in the Fruit
segment was stable, although fruit preparations revenue remained below initial
expectations despite higher sales volumes. The Starch segment benefited from the
high bioethanol prices and, with its EBIT growth, drove the Group's earnings
improvement relative to the prior year."

Results in each business segment

FRUIT segment

Fruit segment revenue in the financial first three quarters was EUR 889.3
million, in line with the year-earlier period. EBIT, at EUR 45.9 million, showed
a significant decrease of 26% from a year ago. The causes of this deterioration
lay mainly in the fruit preparations division, where several factors, including
sales volume growth below expectations, reduced margins in Europe as well as
one-off effects especially in raw materials, along with low sales prices for
apples in Ukraine, were the primary drivers of the reduction in operating
profit.

STARCH segment

The Starch segment's revenue in the first nine months rose by 7.2% year-on-year
to EUR 606.9 million. And with EBIT of EUR 57.3 million, the Starch segment
surpassed the comparative year-earlier result by 55.3%. The very significant
earnings growth was powered largely by the rise in the market price of ethanol
and by higher sales volumes of saccharification products and native and modified
starches.

SUGAR segment

Sugar segment revenue in the first three quarters of the financial year was EUR
383.2 million, off 5.8% from one year earlier. Lower sugar sales volumes were
responsible for this decrease. EBIT improved moderately to a deficit of EUR 33.4
million, from a deficit of EUR 35.4 million in the year-ago period. Although the
2019 campaign, like the prior year's, is associated with significant idle-
capacity costs resulting from smaller beet harvests, higher sugar sales prices
than in the prior year had a positive effect on EBIT.

The detailed financial results are provided in the interim statement for the
first three quarters of 2019|20 -->> LINK [https://www.agrana.com/fileadmin/
inhalte/agrana_group/quarterly_reports/2019_20/AGRANA_IntStatement_Q1-
3_2019_20_EN.pdf]

Outlook

For the full 2019|20 financial year, AGRANA continues to expect a significant
increase in Group operating profit (EBIT). Revenue is projected to be slightly
higher than in the year before.

In the 2019|20 financial year the AGRANA Group plans to invest EUR 140 million,
significantly exceeding the budgeted depreciation of about EUR 110 million. CEO
Johann Marihart says: "The construction of the betaine crystallisation plant in
Tulln, Austria, a EUR 40 million project, is proceeding apace and from June 2020
this new facility will boost the amount of value added in the Sugar segment. The
second wheat starch plant in Pischelsdorf, Austria, which opened in November,
has successfully begun operation and will already contribute significant product
quantities to the Starch segment's sales volumes in the fourth quarter of the
2019|20 financial year. Thanks to our diversified business model, we are thus
able to reiterate the guidance of a significant year-on-year improvement in the
Group's EBIT for the full year 2019|20."

About AGRANA

AGRANA converts agricultural raw materials into high-quality foods and numerous
industrial intermediate products. About 9,500 employees at 57 production sites
worldwide generate annual Group revenue of approximately EUR 2.4 billion.
Established in 1988, the company is the world market leader in fruit
preparations and the leading producer of fruit juice concentrates in Europe. As
well, its Starch segment is a major manufacturer of custom starch products and
of bioethanol. AGRANA today is also the leading sugar producer in Central and
Eastern Europe.

This announcement is available in German and English at www.agrana.com [https://
www.agrana.com/en/]

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
Public Relations
Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12084
e-mail: markus.simak@agrana.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: 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
ISIN: AT000AGRANA3
indexes: WBI
stockmarkets: Frankfurt, Berlin, Wien, Stuttgart
language: English

Additional content: https://www.presseportal.de/pm/63352/4491007
OTS: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
ISIN: AT0000603709

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