Marel Food Systems sells food and dairy division

Marel Food Systems has reached an agreement with Dutch investor Nimbus on the sale of the Food and Dairy Systems division of Stork Food Systems.

The sale excludes the division's Spain operations. The sale is part of the company's strategy to focus on the profitability and organic growth of its core business centering on the fish, meat, poultry and further processing segments of the food-processing industry.

"Marel's strategy since the merger with Stork Food Systems in May 2008 has been to increase the focus on the company's core business," said Theo Hoen, CEO. "The operations of Stork Food and Dairy Systems fall outside that framework and the unit has therefore been defined as a non-core business," Theo said.

The assets sold are impaired, leading to a loss of EUR16.4 million (US$22.4 million), mainly due to the write off of goodwill and re-valued assets, which has been included in the 2009 accounts.

Marel also released its 2009 fourth quarter and overall financial results, including core business revenues of EUR434.8 million (US$593.5 million), down from EUR548.1 million (US$748 million) in 2008.

In 2009, the company reduced its operational costs by EUR25 million (US$34 million) and reduced its debt to EUR295 million (US$403 million), down from EUR379 million (US$517 million) in 2008.

The company's fourth-quarter revenues totalled EUR112.5 million (US$153.6 million), down from EUR121.4 million (US$165.8 million) the previous year.

Theo said, "The integration of Marel and Stork proceeded extremely well in the second half of 2009. The positive effects of cost savings and cross-selling will be significant and will further materialise during the course of 2010. Profitability and cash flow have improved."

Marel is the leading global provider of advanced equipment, systems and services to the fish, meat and poultry industries.