Finnish Company Raisio Achieves Q1 Sales Rise

Net sales grew by 11% to €135.0 million ($175 million) from €121.7 million ($157 million) in 2011.

8 May 2012 --- Raisio, a Finnish company that specializes in cereal products, animal feed and life sciences has announced that for Q1 2012 net sales grew by 11% to €135.0 million ($175 million) from €121.7 million ($157 million) in 2011.

EBIT reached €6.6 million ($8.5 million) compared to the previous year’s figure of €6.1 million ($7.9 million), accounting for 4.9% (5.0%) of net sales.

The company said that they achieved good profitability for their Brands Division, achieving EBIT 11.1% (8.0%) of net sales.

The company said that Raisioagro’s EBIT negative was primarily due to market conditions in feed protein operations.

Chief Executive’s review “Raisio showed continued growth as expected in the first quarter of 2012. In the Brands Division, our determined work led to clearly improved profitability and increased net sales. The most significant profitability improvement was seen in our Western European food operations, or in the companies that have become part of Raisio through acquisition. Benecol’s profitability remained at its ordinary good level. Good performance of the Brands Division shows that we have chosen the right path. In challenging market conditions and rapidly changing markets, we have been able to improve our results and to develop our operations as the forerunner of the sector.

As a Group with a strong balance sheet, we are in a good place to continue the implementation of our growth phase also through acquisitions. In the review period, the Group’s food operations in Poland expanded in line with objectives as we acquired Sulma’s pasta and grits operations. The acquisition enables Raisio’s growth as well as the expansion of our product range in Poland.

Raisioagro now has the first quarter behind with its new structure and service concept. Customers have well received Raisioagro’s new competitive service concept. This provides a good foundation for cooperation with our customers and for further development of services. As expected, the profitability of feed protein operations continued weak. The oil seed crushing industry is struggling with profitability issues across Europe.

Over the last few years, Raisio has grown to become an attractive partner, and we are widely cooperating with major Finnish companies at the leading edge to develop green economy solutions that are also economically viable. Raisio has versatile expertise that can also be used when developing future solutions for food production and for sustainable use of natural resources. Bioeconomy is an opportunity also for Raisio.”