Food ingredients maker Chr Hansen, whose customers include the world's largest food manufacturers, stuck to its sales forecast on Thursday for the 2019/20 financial year despite the coronavirus outbreak, saying increasing at-home food consumption was boosting short-term demand.
The Danish company reported earnings before interest tax and special items for the second quarter in its 2019/2020 financial year at €83.2 million euros, slightly above an estimate of €82 million euros in a poll compiled by the company.
Organic revenue growth at the business was up 5%, with its Food Cultures & Enzymes arm rising by 5%, Health & Nutrition up by 8% and its Natural Colors business seeing a 1% rise.
'In Line With Expectations'
"The second quarter was in line with our expectations," the company's chief executive, Mauricio Graber, commented. "The COVID-19 outbreak in China did not have a material impact on our business in Q2, however, it is clear that we will see both favorable and unfavorable impacts in the second half of the year, as the virus has spread globally.
"Chr. Hansen is part of the global food supply chain and has strong offerings for the food, health and nutrition industries. Customers are securing safety inventories to ensure supply continuity to consumers that are buying more at grocery retail as they comply with stay at home government directives."
News by Reuters. Additional reporting by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
