Sales Down in Q3 at Corbion
21 Oct 2016 --- Corbion has reported that sales were down 0.4 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2016 to €685.2m ($746m), after bakery and meat ingredient sales fell flat in Q3.
But earnings at the bio-based ingredients firm, which provides ingredients for the meat, baking, dairy and beverage industry, were up 10.5 percent to €130.4m ($142m) in the nine months, helped by cost savings.
Across its Food ingredient segment, sales were down 2.2 percent to €507.1m ($552m) in the nine months. In Q3, sales growth was down 5.2 percent.
Sales in its Bakery and Meat unit were lower in Q3 compared to the year before, after sales were hurt by closing its Kansas plant earlier in the year.
Bakery ingredient sales were further undermined by unfavorable comparisons to the previous year, when Corbion benefited from a surge in demand for higher priced egg products due to an outbreak of avian flu.
In Meat, ingredient sales were impacted by lower prices in the US. Outside of the US, demand for Corbion's preservations solutions helped improve sales.
Sales in its Biochemical unit were up 2.8 percent to €160.6m ($175m) in the nine months. In Q3, sales were up 6.2 percent.
However within the Biochemical unit, Agrochemical struggled in Q3 due to softer commodity prices.
Looking ahead, Corbion said it that will not meet its previous target of growth between five and eight percent but that growth would be between two and four percent.
Corbion was formed in 2013 after CSM renamed itself Corbion after selling its bakery division-and its name- to private equity firm Rhonse Capital.
“Our profitability increased substantially, driven by a combination of business mix improvements, cost savings, and lower input costs. However, our top-line growth in Q3 was clearly below our ambition level,” said Tjerk de Ruiter, CEO.
“Growth is negatively affected by our process of improving the portfolio profitability and the adverse effects of customer consolidation. We anticipate these effects to be of a temporary nature, and remain confident that we will achieve our multi-year guidance.”
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