Raisio plc, Interim Report January-March 2015: Raisio’s EBIT EUR 9.6 million

Raisio plc      Interim Report 7 May 2015 at 8:30 Finnish time

RAISIO’S EBIT EUR 9.6 MILLION

January-March 2015, excluding one-off items

• The Group EBIT amounted to EUR 9.6 (5.4) million, accounting for 7.9 (4.6)% of net sales.
• The Brands Division’s EBIT totalled EUR 11.3 (6.4) million, accounting for 12.1 (8.9)% of net sales.
• EBIT for Raisioagro was EUR 0.1 (0.0) million.
• Net sales for the Group totalled EUR 122.5 (116.7) million.
• Cash flow from business operations was EUR 7.7 (-10.9) million.

Raisio Group’s key figures excluding one-off items

  * Including acquisitions

CEO Matti Rihko’s review

“Raisio’s first quarter EBIT of EUR 9.6 million is over four million euros and 78% higher than a year ago. The EBIT improvement was expected and it confirmed that Raisio is back on a growth trend. The Group’s EBIT was primarily improved by the integration of Benecol consumer product business into Raisio and good sales development at the beginning of the year.

Benecol business acquired at the end of 2014 has successfully been integrated into Raisio. The Benecol acquisition from the affiliates of Johnson & Johnson was a successful deal for Raisio. In the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Poland, Finland, Portugal and Hong Kong, home markets for Benecol consumer products, the business is now developed on our own terms and our focus is on marketing as well as the innovation of new products meeting customer needs. 

In the UK, production improvement at the Newport snack bar factory proceeded well and business profitability improved. Raisio will continue work to improve profitability of the cereal business and to study its future alternatives. Both snack bar and cereal businesses underperformed in relation to Raisio’s target.

Raisioagro delivered positive EBIT. In Finland, the restructuring of dairy farms continues, which means increased demand for added value products suitable for increasingly common TMR feeding. In early 2015, Raisioagro launched a new Benemilk Booster concentrate, which is showing good sales growth. Product range that meets the diverse needs of dairy farms is the key to gaining market share for Benemilk feeds in a situation where every tenth Finnish dairy cow is Benemilk-fed.

We continued our strong efforts for the global commercialisation of the Benemilk innovation. Our potential partner candidates are conducting feeding and production trials, which will take a long time. New innovations provide new opportunities for business expansion.”

Outlook 2015

Raisio expects its EBIT to return on its long-term upward trend.

RAISIO PLC

Heidi Hirvonen
Communications and IR Manager
tel. +358 50 567 3060

Further information:
Matti Rihko, CEO, tel. +358 400 830 727
Antti Elevuori, CFO, tel. +358 40 560 4148
Heidi Hirvonen, Communications and IR Manager, tel. +358 50 567 3060

Chief Executive’s video in English will be available on Raisio’s web site at www.raisio.com.

Raisio Group briefly

Raisio plc is an international specialist in plant-based nutrition. Raisio’s operations are divided into two divisions: Brands and Raisioagro. The Group’s key market areas are Finland, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Estonia and Sweden. Raisio plc’s shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. In 2014, the Group's net sales totalled EUR 494 million and EBIT was EUR 35 million. The Group employs some 1,900 people. Raisio’s best-known brands are Benecol, Honey Monster, Elovena, Fox’s, Dormen, Juicee Gummee, Poppets and Benemilk.

Distribution
NASDAQ OMX
Key media
www.raisio.com