Sugar producer Südzucker AG has reported what it described as a 'significant improvement' in performance in the first nine months of its financial year with group EBITDA rising to €519 million (9M 2020: €456 million).
The group saw its revenue increase by €550 million in the nine-month period from 1 March to 30 November 2021, to €5.64 billion.
In the corresponding period the previous year, sales came in at €5.09 billion.
Its sugar and Crop Energies segments reported a 'significantly improved' results in the third quarter, the company said, confirming an earlier advance earnings release. This in turn is helping to lift the overall group performance.
Sugar Segment Performance
In sugar, sales totalled €1.97 billion for the nine-month period, up from €1.73 billion for the same period last year.
'This growth in revenues is mainly attributable to higher sugar sales revenues since the beginning of the expired 2020/21 sugar marketing year as well as since the beginning of the 2021/22 sugar marketing year,' Südzucker said in a statement.
'Moreover, higher volumes since the second quarter of 2021/22 also had a positive effect.'
At the same time, Südzucker's special products segment saw a sharp decline in operating profit in the third quarter, while the fruit segment was down 'moderately'.
The group's starch business had a 'good' third quarter, meaning that the operating operating profit performance for the first nine months of the year is now 'moderately above' that of last year.
Looking ahead, the group said that it expects 'high volatility' on target markets and price increases on procurement markets, which mean that the financial outlook is 'difficult to assess'.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more A-Brands news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
