Apetit Plc’s Financial Statements Release 1 January to 31 December 2020: Apetit Group’s systematic development led to a clear profit improvement - The result for 2020 clearly profitable
Apetit Plc, Financial Statements Release, 19 February 2021 at 8:30 a.m.
October–December 2020, continuing operations*
- Net sales amounted to EUR 82.0 (105.4) million
- EBITDA was EUR 2.7 (0.1) million
- Operating profit was EUR 1.1 (-1.1) million
January–December 2020, continuing operations*
- Net sales amounted to EUR 292.9 (296.9) million
- EBITDA was EUR 10.1 (0.8) million
- Operating profit was EUR 3.9 (-4.8) million
*) Apetit’s continuing operations are Food Solutions, including the frozen products category, Oilseed Products and Grain Trade. In addition to the three reporting segments (Food Solutions, Oilseed Products, Grain Trade), Apetit will report Group Functions, consisting of the expenses related to Group management, strategic projects and listing on the stock exchange that are not allocated to the three business segments.
The reporting principles mentioned above have been in effect starting from the company’s reporting for the first half of 2020. The comparison figures for 2019 were published on 12 June 2020. Apetit has also discontinued the use of alternative profitability-based performance measures.
The figures for 2020 and 2019 have been audited. The quarterly and six-month figures are unaudited. The figures in brackets refer to the corresponding period in 2019, and the comparison period means the corresponding period in the previous year, unless otherwise stated. The comparison figures have been adjusted to correspond to the continuing operations in 2020, except the service business, which is included in the comparison figures for the first half of 2019. The service business was gradually divested by the end of April 2019.
PROFIT GUIDANCE FOR 2021
The full-year operating profit from continuing operations is expected to improve year-on-year (EUR 3.9 million in 2020).
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ DIVIDEND PROPOSAL
The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 0.50 per share be paid for the financial year 2020.
Esa Mäki, CEO:
“We determinedly continued to improve our profitability in the last quarter of the year. Annual profitability improved by nearly EUR 9 million. Profitability improvement is mainly attributable to strong demand for the Apetit brand products in retail trade, improved efficiency in our own operations and commercial successes both in Finland and in export trade. In the grain trade, we have focused on developing our trading ability, in line with our strategy: we have largely succeeded with this goal, although towards the end of the year, the outlook of grain price development had a negative impact on profitability.
In the fourth quarter, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic could still be seen most strongly in the Food Service channel of the Food Solutions business, where net sales decreased year-on-year in spite of a partial recovery of sales during the second half of the year. The sales of frozen products grew year-on-year in other channels, especially in retail trade and exports. In Oilseed Products and Grain Trade, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic still remained minor.
One of Apetit’s strategic focus areas is to strengthen the Swedish market as the primary focus area of food exports. We have made progress towards our goal in the Swedish retail trade and in November, we signed an agreement on the Food Service product sales with a local partner in Sweden. The cooperation started at the beginning of February. We will systematically continue to increase exports in selected markets. In 2020, the value of food exports was EUR 5.3 million.
In December, the European Commission granted a novel food authorisation for Apetit’s rapeseed ingredient, the BlackGrain from Yellow Fields rapeseed powder. The novel food authorisation is the culmination of the BlackGrain product development work we have been doing for years. It also enables us to continue the development of new rapeseed-based ingredients. In addition, we promote to assess options related to the commercialisation of the ingredient.
The commissioning of the bioenergy plant under construction in conjunction with the Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant will be further delayed due to reasons related to an equipment supplier. We are currently assessing different options for completing the construction work. The bioenergy plant is already at an advanced stage of construction and we are aiming to commission it during summer 2021.
In order to ensure the availability of domestic rapeseed raw materials, we are continuing our determined work to increase oilseed plant cultivation area and harvest levels. In December 2020, the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) granted a special permission for the spring 2021 regarding a preparation used in treating oilseeds. The possibility of treating oilseeds will support the cultivation of domestic rapeseed, thereby increasing harvest levels from their current low point. In addition to being in good and stable demand, oilseed plants offer a profitable opportunity to increase versatility of crop rotation. The renewed oilseed plant campaign for 2021 started at the beginning of February: we offer contract growers new benefits and tools for oilseed plant cultivation.
The planning for the coming cultivation season is in full swing also for field vegetables. In the coming growing season, we will seek a record harvest in peas as its demand in the export markets continues to be strong. We are also constantly conducting research on new crops at our Räpi experimental farm and promoting the development of domestic vegetable-based proteins: an example of this is the broad bean, which we will again be growing at the experimental farm after an interim year. The harvest will be processed into products later in the autumn.
Apetit published its updated strategy in May. We have proceeded effectively in all strategic focus areas: Optimising core business functions, Strong foothold in Sweden, Growth from plant-based added value products, Developing farming partnerships and Sustainable actions. In light of the 2020 results, we are well on track to reach our financial objectives by the end of the strategy period.”
KEY FIGURES
| EUR million | 10–12 2020 | 10–12 2019 | Change | 1–12 2020 | 1–12 2019 | Change |
| Continuing operations | ||||||
| Net sales | 82.0 | 105.4 | -22% | 292.9 | 296.9 | -1% |
| EBITDA | 2.7 | 0.1 | 10.1 | 0.8 | ||
| Operating profit | 1.1 | -1.1 | 3.9 | -4.8 | ||
| Share of profit of associated company Sucros | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | -0.9 | ||
| Profit for the period | 1.5 | -0.3 | 3.1 | -5.4 | ||
| Earnings per share, EUR | 0.24 | -0.05 | 0.49 | -0.87 | ||
| Working capital at the end of the period | 48.4 | 64.0 | ||||
| Investment | 7.8 | 11.5 | ||||
| Group (incl. discontinued operations) | ||||||
| Net sales | 82.0 | 105.4 | -22% | 293.0 | 312.6 | -6% |
| EBITDA | 2.8 | 2.2 | 10.2 | 2.9 | ||
| Operating profit | 1.2 | -1.3 | 4.1 | -3.4 | ||
| Profit for the period | 1.5 | -0.5 | 3.2 | -4.4 | ||
| Earnings per share, EUR | 0.25 | -0.08 | 0.52 | -0.71 | ||
| Equity per share, EUR | 15.26 | 15.09 | ||||
| ROCE % | 3.3 | -4.0 | ||||
| Net cash flow from operating activities | 26.8 | -5.9 | ||||
| Equity ratio | 66.5 | 55.0 | ||||
| Gearing | 21.7 | 35.9 |
WEBCAST
A news conference (in Finnish) will be held as a live webcast today on 19 February 2021 at 10:00. The news conference can be followed at apetit.fi/for-investors. The presentation material and a recording of the webcast will be available on the company’s website after the news conference.
Apetit Plc
Esa Mäki, CEO, Apetit Plc, tel. +358 10 402 2100
Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique and sustainable value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feeding stuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2020, Apetit Group's net sales were EUR 293 million
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