Treatt Reports Strong Growth in 2010

The value of sales of orange oil products, which represent 17% of Group revenue (2009: 17%), increased by 12% during the year although volumes were unchanged.

7 Dec 2010 --- Treatt has reported a strong year with operating profit increasing by 26% to £4.9m.” Group revenue continued to grow for the twelfth year in succession with an increase for the year of 12.4% to £63.3m (2009: £56.3m). Over the last three years Group revenue has risen by 66%. Group adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 20% to £6.0m (2009: £5.0m) with adjusted profit before tax for the year being up by 29% to a new all-time high of £4.5m (2009: £3.5m). Basic adjusted earnings per share has increased by 24% to 30.3 pence (2009: 24.5 pence) per share.

The Board is proposing a final dividend of 8.9 pence (2009: 8.3 pence), increasing the total dividend for the year by 8.3% to 13.0 pence (2009: 12.0 pence) per share. The final dividend will be payable on 4 March 2011 to all shareholders on the register at close of business on 28 January 2011.

Towards the end of the 2009 financial year there was a weakening of demand and this trend continued into the first quarter of the 2010 financial year. However, in January 2010 demand began to recover and sales of the Group’s products rose sharply across the broad range of new and existing customers, reaching record levels in terms of both volumes and value in the third quarter. The final quarter of the year was significantly stronger than the corresponding period last year. The value of sales of orange oil products, which represent 17% of Group revenue (2009: 17%), increased by 12% during the year although volumes were unchanged.

Contribution from orange oil co-products increased even more sharply as prices rose steadily throughout the period. By the end of the financial year orange oil prices had begun to reach all-time highs although this did not impact on the results for the year ended 30 September 2010. Over the course of the year, the US Dollar to Pound Sterling exchange rate had a broadly neutral effect on the business as it ended the year little different to where it had opened twelve months earlier, although there were some periods of significant fluctuation in between.