Chr. Hansen reports 10% organic revenue growth in the first quarter

DENMARK – The global food and nutritional solutions provider, Chr. Hansen has posted solid organic revenue growth of 10% in the first three months of the year 2018/19, primarily led by the Health & Nutrition segment.

Earnings Before Interest & Tax before special items increased by 9% to US$80.88 million corresponding to an EBIT margin before special items of 26.3% which was up 0.9%-point compared to last year.

The company said the performance was in line with its ‘Nature’s no. 1 – Sustainably’ growth ambitions.

The Food Cultures & Enzymes which consists of natural ingredients, microbial and enzymatic solutions was the second growth category after health and nutrition which grew 17% organically.

Our EBIT margin before special items in Q1 increased by 0.9%-point and was driven by improved margins in Health & Nutrition and Natural Colors.
The EBIT margin in Food Cultures & Enzymes was positively impacted by a strong development in gross margin, and ended on par with last year, as we continued to invest in our growth and innovation priorities.

We continue to expect a positive contribution from further scalability benefits, as we ramp up utilization of the new capacity in our facility in Copenhagen.

CEO Mauricio Graber.

During the period, the company launched innovation fund to develop microbial and natural solutions for sustainable agricultural production.

Strong performance in the health and nutrition sector was driven by global demand for probiotics for infant formula in Human Health.

Animal health was boosted by strong demand for microbial solutions for animal farming helped by improvement of the company’s route-to-market strategy.

Latin America was a good market for Plant Health during the quarter whilw demand for coloring foodstuff significantly contributed to growth in Natural colors.

The company expanded its natural colors range with the launch of Red FruitMax, a vibrant natural coloring to food and beverage manufacturers create a stable and vibrant red colour.

Chr. Hansen, which reported olid organic revenue growth of 9% in the first nine months of 2017/18 acquired the assets of Austrian-based ingredient supplier, Hundsbichler last October.

Looking into the future, Mauricio Graber said: “We are encouraged by the solid start to the year, and we maintain our overall guidance for the full year.

Our pipeline of products to be launched this year, from all three business areas, looks very promising and will support the growth potential of Chr. Hansen.