APETIT PLC FINANCIAL STATEMENTS BULLETIN FOR 2014

This is a summary of the Financial Statements Bulletin for 2014. Complete Financial Statements Bulletin for 2014 is attached to this release and can be downloaded from the company’s website at www.apetitgroup.fi/en

Fourth quarter (October–December):

• Consolidated net sales amounted to EUR 120.8 (97.3) million, up by 24 per cent.
• Operating profit excluding non-recurring items was EUR 5.3 (5.4) million. The reported operating profit was EUR 5.3 (5.1) million.
• Profit for the period was EUR 3.4 (4.7) million, and earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.57 (0.75).

Financial year (January–December):

• Consolidated net sales amounted to EUR 384.7 (387.3) million, down by 1 per cent.
• Operating profit excluding non-recurring items came to EUR 7.3 (12.2) million. The reported operating profit was EUR -5.9 (9.4) million.
• The non-recurring items included in the reported operating profit were EUR ‑13.2 (-2.8) million. These consisted of EUR ‑10.2 million in impairments carried out in the Food Business on the basis of goodwill testing and EUR ‑3.0 million in expenses related to the arbitration court process between Apetit and Nordic Sugar.  
• Profit for the period was EUR -8.7 (9.3) million, and earnings per share amounted to EUR
  -1.29 (1.63).
• Profit for the period before non-recurring items was EUR 3.7 (9.1) million, and earnings per share before non-recurring items was EUR 0.72 (1.60).
• The equity ratio remained strong and was 69.7 (70.3) per cent.
• Cash flow from operating activities after interest and taxes amounted to EUR 18.1 (24.4) million.

The Board of Directors will propose to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 0.70 (1.00) per share be paid.

The information in this bulletin is unaudited. The figures in parentheses are the equivalent figures for the same period in 2013, and the comparison period means the corresponding period of the previous year, unless stated otherwise.

Veijo Meriläinen, CEO:

In the last quarter of the year, Apetit’s consolidated operating profit excluding non-recurring items was EUR 5.3 million, which was about the same as a year earlier. Our net sales in the Grains and Oilseeds Business rose sharply on the grain trading side, as a result of the major delivery volumes during the quarter and the general increase in sales.  

The profitability figures for the period take account of successes and also areas in which we were unsuccessful. We were especially successful in the Grains and Oilseeds Business, where we managed to increase volumes cost effectively and thus boost profitability, on both the grain markets and in oilseed products. The Food Business picked up thanks to the good profitability of the frozen foods group following the segment’s lacklustre earnings trend in the early months of the year, but we cannot be satisfied with the profitability of the fresh products group and the Finnish and Swedish operations of the fish products group. The result for the associated company Sucros was adversely affected by the declining market price of sugar.

In the final quarter, we also continued with the long-term profitability programmes launched in the fish and fresh products groups of the Food Business. The programme measures are being implemented in stages up to the end of 2015, and the aim is to achieve a total reduction of EUR 4.5 million in annual costs. As part of the programme for the fish products group, we focused on simplifying the production structure and concentrating operations at Kuopio and Helsinki during the last quarter of the year. 

Aside from the greater or lesser financial successes of the year, 2014 also featured significant changes at Apetit. We continued to put the new, simpler business structure into effect, to implement the Food Business strategy designed to delight consumers and customers, and, in the Grains and Oilseeds Business, to strengthen our position as a grain trade leader in the Baltic region and as a manufacturer and innovator in quality vegetable oil products.

KEY FIGURES

OUTLOOK FOR 2015 

The Group’s full-year operating profit excluding non-recurring items is expected to improve from the previous year’s level. However, it is anticipated that the operating profit excluding non-recurring items for the first quarter of the year will be lower than in the same quarter a year earlier. 

The market conditions in the food sector in Finland are challenging. The aim of the long-term profitability programmes in the Food Business is to improve profitability and competitiveness. The impact of these programmes on the operating profit is expected to be felt in stages during the year as the measures are implemented. In the Grains and Oilseeds Business, no major change is expected in the prospects for profitability in 2015 compared with the previous year. In the Other Operations segment, lower market prices for sugar are expected to weaken the result for the associated company Sucros.

Due to the substantial effect of international grain market price fluctuations on the entire Group’s net sales, Apetit will not issue any estimates of the expected full-year net sales.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ DIVIDEND PROPOSAL

The aim of the Board of Directors of Apetit Plc is to ensure that the company’s shares provide shareholders with a good return on investment and retain their value. In line with its policy, the company distributes in dividends at least 40 per cent of the profit for the financial year attributable to shareholders of the parent company. 

After deduction of the loss for the financial year, at EUR -6,433,613.00, the parent company’s distributable funds totalled EUR 73,360,988.66 on 31 December 2014.

The Board of Directors will propose to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 0.70 per share be paid for 2014. The Board will propose that a total of EUR 4,331,891.27 be distributed in dividends and that EUR 69,029,097.39 be left in equity.

No dividend will be paid on shares held by the company.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2015

The Annual General Meeting is planned for 25 March 2015 and will be held in Säkylä.

FINANCIAL REPORTING IN 2015

Apetit Plc’s Annual Report for 2014 – including the Board of Directors’ report, financial statements for 2014 and a separate statement on Apetit Plc’s corporate governance – will be published in the week beginning on 2 March 2015 at www.apetitgroup.fi/investors.

Apetit Plc will publish the following financial reports in 2015:

• Interim Report January-March, Tuesday 5 May 2015 at 8:30
• Interim Report January-June, Wednesday 12 August 2015 at 8:30
• Interim Report January-September, Friday 30 October 2015 at 8:30

***************

Invitation to a briefing

A briefing (in Finnish) for analysts and media representatives will be held today at 10.00 a.m. in Hotel Scandic Simonkenttä (address: Simonkatu 9, Helsinki). In the briefing Apetit Plc’s CEO Veijo Meriläinen presents the financial statements bulletin for 2014 of Apetit Plc and gives more information about current issues.

The presentation material will be available on the company’s website at www.apetitgroup.fi/en/ after the event. 

Further information:
Veijo Meriläinen, CEO, tel. +358 (0)10 402 00

Copies to:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Main media
www.apetitgroup.fi