Low sugar and ethanol prices continue to weigh on Südzucker results

The sugar, fruit and special products segments’ sales revenues fell, whereas the CropEnergies segment's rose. Consolidated group operating profit fell sharply as forecast to € 174 m (previous year: € 579 m).

 

According to the company, the result was driven mainly by the steep decline in the sugar and CropEnergies segments' operating profits. The fruit segment reported solid results for the third quarter and as expected was able to reduce the year-over-year decline. The special products segment on the other hand was able to significantly improve operating profit.

 

 

Südzucker’s projections for the current fiscal year have remained unchanged since April 2014: Consolidated group sales revenues are expected to come in at about € 7.0 bn (previous year: € 7.5 bn) and operating profit will drop sharply, to about € 200 m (€ 622 m). Based on business performance to date, achieving this forecast continues to be a challenge.

 

 

The lower group consolidated operating profit continues to be driven by further steep declines in sugar and CropEnergies segment operating profits, whereas the fruit segment’s results are about the same as last year’s and the special products segment should grow significantly. The ongoing difficult economic environment in the European sugar and ethanol markets will not only negatively impact fiscal 2014/15, but also weigh heavily on fiscal 2015/16 results.