Lännen Tehtaat plc Financial Statements Bulletin for 2012

This is a summary of the Financial Statements Bulletin for 2012. Complete Financial Statements Bulletin for 2012 is attached to this release and can be downloaded from the company’s website at www.lannen.fi.

Fourth quarter (October-December):

• Consolidated fourth-quarter net sales came to EUR 115.0 (80.4) million, which was a year-on-year increase of more than 40%.
• Operating profit, excluding non-recurring items, came to EUR 5.1 (4.6) million; non-recurring items totalled EUR 0.0 (0.6) million.
• The profit for the period was EUR 4.0 (4.4) million, and earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.64 (0.69).

Financial year (January-December):

• Consolidated net sales for 2012 amounted to EUR 378.2 (335.5) million, which was a year-on-year increase of almost 13%.
• Operating profit, excluding non-recurring items, came to EUR 8.8 (9.8) million; non-recurring items totalled EUR -0.4 (-1.1) million.
• Profit for the year came to EUR 6.7 (5.7) million, and earnings per share amounted to EUR 1.07 (0.92).  

The Board of Directors will propose to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 0.90 (0.85) per share be paid.

The information in this bulletin has not been audited. The figures in parentheses are the equivalent figures for the same period in 2011, unless stated otherwise. 

Matti Karppinen, CEO:

“Earnings per share for 2012 are higher than for the previous year. After the fairly weak operating profit for the first six months, the operating profit for July-December showed a year-on-year improvement. Net sales also grew considerably in the second half of 2012. The restructuring of our Seafood business has proceeded as planned, and the measures set out in the strategy have led to strong sales growth in Finland and Sweden. In its marketing to consumers, Frozen Foods has focused on home-grown raw materials as a key competitive advantage. During 2012, the Kotimainen home-grown product range was expanded beyond frozen vegetables and frozen ready meals to include fish products as well, and sales of the entire range were up by 15% from the previous year. Further delicious additions meeting the home-grown product pledge will be developed in the future, both for consumers and the professional food service sector. The development of Caternet has proceeded according to plan. At the end of the year, Caternet’s commercial organisation – Apetit Ammattilaiset – took responsibility for sales of Apetit Pakaste and Apetit Kala products to the professional food service sector, which further strengthens our position as partner to the sector and brings improved opportunities for boosting and further developing sales in the sector. In Grains and Oilseeds, our own vegetable oil packaging plant began operating more than a year ago, and this has allowed us to tailor our vegetable oils for specific customers and enables us to deliver in different packaging sizes according to the customer’s needs. Thanks to the own packaging plant, the delivery volumes of packaged vegetable oils almost doubled in comparison with the previous year.”

 Key figures

Outlook for 2013

Lännen Tehtaat plc continues giving the full-year market guidance in its Financial Statements Bulletin and repeats it in its Interim Reports.

Net sales for 2013 are expected to show a year-on-year increase as a result of the acquisition made in 2012 and the achievement of organic growth. The Group’s net sales will be affected particularly by the level of activity in the grain and oilseed markets and by changes in the price level of grains and oilseeds.

As a result of growth and the development measures undertaken in the Group’s businesses, the 2013 consolidated operating profit, excluding non-recurring items, is expected to improve on the 2012 figure. The profit improvement is expected to be strongest in the first six months of the year. The accrual of Lännen Tehtaat’s annual profit is typically weighted towards the end of the year, due to the nature of operations in the Frozen Foods business, the Seafood business and the associated company Sucros.

The 2013 result could also be affected significantly by the outcome of the shareholder agreement dispute concerning Sucros, which is expected to be announced in the second half of 2013. 

Board of Directors’ dividend proposal

The parent company’s distributable funds totaled EUR 88,539,558.39 on 31 December 2012, of which EUR 6,115,426.08 is profit for the financial year.

The Board of Directors will propose that a dividend of EUR 0.90 per share be paid for 2012. The Board will propose that a total of EUR 5,568,818.40 be distributed in dividends and that EUR 82,970,739.99 be left in equity. The proposed dividend is 84.1% of the earnings per share.

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

Annual General Meeting 2013

The Annual General Meeting is planned for Tuesday 26 March 2013, and will be held at Säkylä. 

Financial reporting in 2013

Lännen Tehtaat’s 2012 Annual Report, containing the Board of Directors’ report and financial statements for 2012 and a separate statement on Lännen Tehtaat’s corporate governance, will be published on its website at www.lannen.fi/en/investor_information in the week beginning 4 March 2013. 

The company will publish interim reports as follows:

• Q1/2013, on Wednesday 8 May 2013 at 8.30 a.m.
• Q2/2013, on Wednesday 14 August 2013 at 8.30 a.m.
• Q3/2013, on Wednesday 6 November 2013 at 8.30 a.m.

Additional information from:

Matti Karppinen, CEO, tel. +358 (0)10 402 00

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Invitation to a news briefing

CEO Matti Karppinen will present Lännen Tehtaat’s 2012 results to analysts and the media at a news briefing given in Finnish today, 14 February 2013, at 10.00 a.m. The news briefing will be held at the Sokos Hotel Vaakuna  in Helsinki (address: Asema-aukio 2).

The news briefing presentation material will be available on the company’s website at www.lannen.fi/en/investor_information after the news briefing.

COPIES TO:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd
Main media
www.lannen.fi.