Nordzucker Post 4/2024 - 24 October 2024

Positive first half of 2024/25 – expectations dampened

At the end of August 2024, the Nordzucker Group closed the first half of the 2024/25 financial year with a very good result.

Group revenues were once again above the high level of the same period of the previous year, at 1,416 million Euro (previous year: 1,352 million Euro). Operating profit (EBIT) was 207 million Euro , slightly below the figure of 220 million Euro for the same period of the previous year. In the first half of the year, Nordzucker was still able to benefit from high prices in the sugar market, despite a slight decline in sales volumes.

Currently, sugar prices on the EU market are falling significantly. “The price decline did not come as a surprise to us, but its speed and extent exceed our expectations,” explains Alexander Bott, CFO. “The impact of this sharp decline in sales prices on earnings will not be seen until the second half of our financial year, with the start of the new sugar marketing year. Nevertheless, we are confident that we will close the 2024/25 financial year with a positive result. However, in view of these market developments, we cannot rule out a negative result for the coming year 2025/26. Fluctuating price cycles are part of our business, and it is in these phases that we particularly benefit from our financial stability, which is characterised by a high equity ratio and low debt. We are currently monitoring the markets very closely and have already taken appropriate measures to take account of this market development; these include, among other things, intensifying our already very successful excellence programmes and implementing a programme to reduce our operating expenses.”

Lars Gorissen, CEO, adds: “In view of the current situation, we have actively implemented measures within the company to minimise potential losses. These include efficiency measures and cost reductions in many areas. For example, we had significantly increased our investments in recent years – primarily to achieve our science-based targets by 2030 as part of our sustainability strategy and the GoGreen programme. Thanks to the advanced planning of the necessary projects in our roadmaps, we have now been able to reduce our five-year budget for GoGreen without jeopardising our 2030 targets. We have reviewed all other investments and postponed some of them.”