October 30, 2009
Nutreco Q3 sales down nine percent
Nutreco, a Dutch animal and fish feed producer, saw its third quarter sales declining 8.9 percent to EUR1.206 billion, bringing the nine-month total to EUR3.3 billion.
Premix and feed specialties reported a 6.5-percent decrease in revenue compared with the third quarter of 2008. The prices were on average 4.6-percent lower and the foreign exchange effect was -5.4 percent.
This was partly offset by a positive volume development of 1.2 percent and the contribution of acquisitions of 2.3 percent.
The operational results of Premix and feed specialties are in line with the outlook. The year-to-date revenues show a volume decrease of 6.9 percent versus last year, which was 10.5 percent in the first half of 2009.
The revenue of Compound feed Europe was EUR77.6 million or 25.4-percent lower than in the third quarter of 2008.
Lower sales prices accounted for approximately 20.5 percent due to lower grain and soy prices compared with the third quarter 2008. Volumes decreased by 4.9 percent due to a lower demand for feed for dairy cows and pig feed mainly related to the low milk and pig prices.
The revenue in third quarter of Animal Nutrition Canada was EUR95.4 million compared with EUR101.2 million in the same period last year. The decline was mainly because of a 5.9-percent decline in prices. The volumes were slightly higher than in the third quarter of 2008. The operational results are in line with last year.
The revenue in Fish feed of EUR372.9 million equals the revenue in the third quarter of 2008. The volume increase in the quarter was 3.5 percent and the price effect was 0.4 percent, but this increase was offset by a -3.9 percent foreign exchange effect.
A strong volume growth in Norway is compensating for the decline in volumes in Chile, where there is a reduced demand for fish feed as a consequence of the ISA virus.
The revenue from ''Meat and other'' was 6.1-percent lower, mainly related to 6.6-percent lower prices. The volumes were slightly above the ones of last year. Due to lower feed cost prices and good poultry prices the results in the third quarter continued to be strong.
Meanwhile, Nutreco is setting the stage for acquisitions and expansion into new countries, as it forecast a rebound in its performance supported by a return to profit in its European animal feed division.
Nutreco is now digesting the purchases of two Iberian feed businesses from Cargill, and will prioritise deals that would strengthen its presence in the Canadian, Dutch and Spanish markets.
Nutreco also said it would focus on new geographic regions and markets, highlighting potential global demand for its livestock feeds.
Overall global feed demand in increasing, said Nutreco CEO Wout Dekker.