AAK: Interim Report for the Second Quarter 2015

Malmo / SE. (aak) Swedish AAK Group (former AarhusKarlshamn AB) announced its interim report for the second quarter 2015. «Based on AAK’s customer value propositions for health and reduced costs, and our customer product co-development and solutions approach, we continue to remain prudently optimistic about the future», says Arne Frank, CEO and President, AAK Group. «The main drivers are the continued positive underlying development in Food Ingredients and a continued improvement in Chocolate + Confectionery Fats». Highlights:

• Again, a high and solid operating profit, excluding non-recurring items, was achieved, reaching 326 million SEK (281), an improvement of 16 percent. The currency translation impact was positive 39 million SEK.
• Operating profit at fixed foreign exchange rates and adjusted for last year’s divestment of Binol improved by four percent.
• Including non-recurring items – the profit from the divestment of the office building in Aarhus, adjustments for non-recurring provisions made in this quarter and last year’s acquisition costs
• operating profit reached 339 million SEK (272), an improvement of 25 percent.
• Volumes increased by twelve percent. Organic volume growth was four percent.
• Food Ingredients reached a result of 221 million SEK (198), an improvement of twelve percent.
• Chocolate + Confectionery Fats improved with 27 percent and reached 116 million SEK (91).
• The operating profit for Technical Products + Feed improved with ten percent and reached 22 million SEK (20).
• Operating cash flow including changes in working capital amounted to 389 million SEK (168).
• Earnings per share increased with 30 percent, to 5.38 SEK (4.14).
• Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), calculated on a rolling twelve months basis, was 15.9 percent (16.0 at December 31, 2014).