Wimm-Bill-Dann Records Solid Net Profit Growth 

17/12/07 Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC has announced its financial results for nine months and the third quarter ended September 30, 2007.

Commenting on the results, Tony Maher, Wimm-Bill-Dann’s chief executive officer said, “We are very pleased with the strong results we achieved for the first nine months of 2007 especially in the most challenging raw material cost environment. Despite a sharp rise in raw milk prices, we continued to improve our EBITDA margin to 13.5% in the third quarter of 2007 compared to 12.7% in the second quarter of 2007. During the nine months of 2007 net profit growth was a solid 33.4% and we continued to show impressive revenue growth of 40.4% at the group level.

“Our beverages business continues to progress well realizing a solid 28.6% sales increase and a significant margin improvement to 40.4% in the first nine months of 2007 from 34.4% in the same period last year. Our dairy division delivered strong results during first nine months of 2007 with sales increasing 43.1% to US$1,328.7 million, while gross margins decreased only slightly – a significant achievement given the sharp rise in the price of raw milk. Our baby food division continued to gain momentum with sales increasing 44.0% to US$119.0 million while gross margins expanded to 44.4% from 41.3% in the prior year period.

“In conclusion, I am pleased with our performance for the 9 month period as we continue to successfully execute on our strategy and deliver on our commitment to improve our route-to-market and invest in building consumer preference in our brands. I am confident that Wimm-Bill-Dann is well positioned to continue to achieve consistently strong results and significant value for our customers and stockholders.”

Sales in the Dairy Segment increased 43.1% to US$1,328.7 million in the first nine months of 2007 from US$928.5 million in the same period of 2006. Acquisitions made in late 2006 contributed US$116.4 million to overall sales growth in the Segment. Top-line growth was driven mainly by a healthy balance of volume and pricing. The average dollar selling price rose 15.9% to US$1.05 per kg in the first nine months of 2007 from US$0.91 per kg in the same period of 2006. This increase was driven primarily by average ruble price growth. The latter part of the year saw an unprecedented rise in the price of raw milk, both globally and in Russia. Our raw milk cost increased 34.3% year-on-year in ruble terms (41.2% in dollar terms) in the third quarter and 17.3% year-on-year in ruble terms (24.0% in dollar terms) in the first nine months of 2007. Despite such a sharp rise in the price of raw milk, the gross margin in the Dairy Segment decreased only slightly to 30.1% in the first nine months of 2007 from 30.8% for the same period last year.

Sales in the Beverages Segment increased 28.6% to US$310.6 million in the first nine months of 2007 from US$241.5 million in the same period last year, driven mainly by volume growth and selling price increase. The average selling price increased 16.3% to US$0.83 per liter in the first nine months of 2007 from US$0.71 per liter in the first nine months of 2006. Despite continued raw materials cost pressure, the gross margin in the Beverages Segment increased to 40.4% in the first nine months of 2007 from 34.4% in the first nine months of 2006, driven by continued efficiency improvements and better pricing and discount management in all regions.

Sales in the Baby Food Segment increased 44.0% to US$119.0 million in the first nine months of 2007 from US$82.6 million in the same period last year. This was driven primarily by volume growth. The average selling price rose 7.1% to US$1.86 per kg in the first nine months of 2007 from US$1.74 per kg in the first nine months of 2006. The gross margin in the Baby Food Segment increased to 44.4% from 41.3%, owing to the launch of our own production facility in Kursk and a decreased share of co-packing in the overall sales.

In line with previous communications, improving its route-to-market and continued investment in top-line growth through marketing led to an increase in selling and distribution expenses to 16.0% of sales during the first nine months of 2007 compared to 13.2% of sales in the first nine months of 2006. General and administrative expenses fell to 7.4% of sales in the first nine months of 2007 compared from 8.0% of sales in the first nine months of 2006.

In the first nine months of 2007, financial expenses increased 50.1% year-on-year to US$15.4 million, primarily due to higher interest expenses. The company’s effective tax rate decreased to 29.3% in the first nine months of 2007 from 33.4% in the same period of 2006.