August 11, 2010

 

Marel reports higher sales in Q2

 

 

Equipment supplier Marel reported second-quarter revenues from its core businesses increased 5.6% over the first quarter.

 

The EUR136.1 million (US$178.7 million) revenues were up 26.9% over the prior-year period.

 

It is the second quarter in a row the company has delivered on its long-term target of a 10-12% return on revenues. Although the company said it expected Q3 results will be marked by the traditional summer holiday slowdown, its full-year results should hit the 10-12% target.

 

The company said its quarterly performance was bolstered, in part, by an increase in order from by US poultry processors.

 

"We are very pleased to have achieved our long-term Return on Sales (ROS) target of 10-12% for the second quarter in a row, thanks to our strict focus on cost control and our strong position in a recovering and growing market," said Theo Hoen, CEO. "We believe that this level of performance is sustainable and can serve as the baseline for further growth moving forward. Our challenge now is to reinforce the company's position as market leader and, at the same time, to increase profitability."

 

"The underlying demand in the food industry is rising and automation is increasing at a robust rate in developing countries such as China," he continued. "What's more, we are benefitting from our strategy of having sustained our level of investment in innovation throughout the crisis. Our product development pipeline shows a healthy number of new projects in progress and I am proud of the success we have had with our latest innovations, including the StreamLine, RevoPortioner and the SensorX."

 

The integration of the Marel and Stork Food Systems continues to be a priority, including implementation of the company's new organisational structure, which includes four industry centres focused on fish, meat, poultry and further processing. The integration efforts are especially paying off in the development of new products that combine the technologies of the different business units, such as the Marel SensorX bone detection system and the poultry Front Half Filleting system of Stork.