October 23, 2014

Danish food ingredients maker Chr. Hansen says its earnings before interest, tax (EBIT) and special items hit EUR205 million (US$261 million) in financial year 2013/14, up 6% from EUR193 million (US$244.1 million) in 2012/2013.

For financial year 2014/15, Chr. Hansen expects revenues to increase 7-9% organically and an EBIT margin above 26.5%, similar to the 27.1% of this year.

Announcing its financial results this week, Chr. Hansen said the company "continues to deliver solid growth and strong margins."

In 2013/14, organic growth was 8%, while the EBIT margin before special items ended at 27.1%. The Cultures & Enzymes Division and the Health & Nutrition Division delivered solid organic growth of 8% and 15% respectively, while the Natural Colours Division delivered organic growth of 2% excluding carmine price effect, it said.

The company, which supplies a wide variety of ingredients such as ice cream colouring, cheese cultures and bacteria for animal feed, proposed a dividend of EUR0.51 (US$0.65) per share.

Chr. Hansen's CEO, Cees de Jong, attributes this year's success to the "implementation of our Nature's No. 1 strategy," adding that  it "will take this further in 2014/15, with increasing investment in our new strategic initiatives for biological plant protection and the establishment of a dedicated sales and application organisation in the Natural Colors Division."

For 2014/15, he adds, "we expect organic revenue growth of 7-9% and an EBIT margin before special items … to be above 26.5%."