Knut Nesse, CEO of Nutreco, said: "In the first half of 2013, operating results were €94.1 million which is above our guidance of €90 million. I am pleased with the continuing margin improvement within the Premix & Feed Specialties segment which now exceeds our guidance of seven per cent.
"This is due to a better performance in Europe and a solid contribution from our portfolio of globally branded specialty products. Nutreco's strategy is focussed on the segments Premix & Feed Specialties and Fish Feed.
"In line with this strategy we are currently investigating the best options to facilitate the growth and development of the compound feed and meat business in Spain and Portugal and of the people who work in it.
"Our Fish Feed results were impacted by lower seawater temperatures in Europe which caused a slow start to the year. In the second half of the year growth is expected to be restored by higher demand, leading to modest organic volume growth for the full year.
"The acquisition of Gisis has been completed following unconditional approval from the Ecuadorian competition authorities which allows us to start integrating and building on this position in Latin America.
"In Egypt we moved from a minority interest to full control of our tilapia feed business. Both investments support our strategy to expand in growth geographies as well as in fish feed for non-salmonid species.
"Barring unforeseen circumstances, we expect full year EBITA before exceptional items to be at least in line with 2012 (€262.1 million)."
AgriVision 2013 conference - Time to Resourcify
Nutreco hosted the seventh AgriVision animal nutrition industry conference in June. This unique conference brought together 350 delegates from 45 countries including agri-business leaders and a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
The conference addressed issues such as resource scarcity and the role of industry in using innovation to help boost production sustainably in areas such as Africa, with its unused natural resource wealth, market potential and huge potential for productivity increases.
The keynote speaker was Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter who elaborated on the idea of shared value creation, which is about integrating societal needs and challenges into economic value creation.
Skretting's MicroBalance concept, which replaces scarce raw materials while at the same time reducing feed costs, is a good example of shared value creation.
Outlook
Nutreco expects:
- Premix & Feed Specialties: operating margin to exceed seven per cent
- Meat & Other: operating margins may improve in the second half if current raw material price trends continue
- Fish Feed: growth in the second half is expected to be restored by higher demand, leading to modest organic volume growth for FY 2013
- Barring unforeseen circumstances, Nutreco expects the full year EBITA before exceptional items to be at least in line with 2012 (€262.1 million)
Historically Nutreco's result is weighted towards the second half of the year due to seasonality in Fish Feed.
Agenda 2013
Nutreco will continue to execute the strategic roadmap towards 2016:
- Develop higher value-added portfolio of nutritional solutions
- Focus Premix & Feed Specialties and Fish Feed
- Continue drive for operational excellence in mature markets
- Grow in geographies Latin America, Russia, Asia and Africa
