Chr. Hansen Holding A/S - Interim report 1 September 2015 - 30 November 2015

14 January 2016 07:59

Company announcement no.02/2016

“We experienced a strong start to 2015/16, and 14% organic revenue growth in Q1 underlines our unique position in markets within microbial and natural color solutions with attractive growth opportunities. We continue to implement our Nature’s No. 1 strategy, and I’m very pleased with the progress. We have signed an agreement to acquire Nutrition Physiology Company, which will expand our current activities in animal health, and we have entered into our first commercial partnership in the human microbiome initiative,” says CEO Cees de Jong.

“Profitability increased in Q1, not least due to the positive impact from the scalability of our production platform in cultures and enzymes. As a result, the EBIT margin before special items increased by 2 percentage points to 25.2%”.

“Based on the strong start to the year, we now expect organic revenue growth of 9-11% while the EBIT margin before special items is still expected to be above the 27.1% achieved in 2014/15.”

2015/16 IN BRIEF

Q1 results

• Revenue of EUR 214 million, compared to EUR 188 million in 2014/15, corresponding to organic growth of 14%
• EBIT before special items of EUR 54 million, compared to EUR 44 million in 2014/15, an increase of 24%. The EBIT margin before special items was 25.2%, compared to 23.1% in 2014/15
• Income taxes of EUR 13 million, equivalent to an effective tax rate of 25%, compared to 26% in 2014/15
• Profit for the period of EUR 39 million, compared to EUR 30 million in 2014/15, an increase of 31%
• Negative free cash flow of EUR 17 million, compared to a negative EUR 30 million in 2014/15
• Net interest-bearing debt of EUR 513 million, or 1.7x EBITDA, compared to EUR 432 million, or 1.7x EBITDA, at 30 November 2014.

Progress on Nature’s No. 1

• On 13 January 2016, Chr. Hansen announced an agreement to acquire Nutrition Physiology Company (NPC) for a cash consideration reflecting an enterprise value of USD 185 million, and an EV/EBITDA multiple of 15.9x based on full-year 2016 estimates before synergies. The details of the agreement are described in announcement 1/2016 of 13 January 2016, which is attached to this report as an appendix
• Chr. Hansen continues to discuss potential partnerships with various companies within the human microbiome initiative and has signed an agreement with Caelus Health to develop a production process and pilot material for clinical trials to explore the use of Eubacterium hallii for prevention and treatment of metabolic disease 
• Chr. Hansen will hold a Capital Markets Day on 12 April 2016 in Copenhagen to provide an update on the Nature’s No. 1 strategy.

OUTLOOK FOR 2015/16                                                 

The outlook for 2015/16 has been adjusted compared to the announcement of 21 October 2015 (). The agreement to acquire Nutrition Physiology Company is not impacting the outlook.

Organic revenue growth: 9-11% (previously 8-10%)

Research & development expenditures incurred (% of revenue): 6.5-7.0% (previously 6.5-7.0%)

EBIT margin before special items: above 2014/15 (previously above 2014/15)

Free cash flow before acquisitions, divestments and special items: above 2014/15 (previously above 2014/15

For further information, please contact:

Anders Mohr Christensen, Senior Director, Investor Relations
Tel: +45 4574 7618

Klara Halkjaer, Head of media relations

Tel: +45 4574 7474

About Chr. Hansen

Chr. Hansen is a global bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The products include cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural colors, and all solutions are based on strong research and development competencies coupled with significant technology investments. Revenue in the 2014/15 financial year was EUR 859 million. The company has more than 2,600 dedicated employees in 30 countries and main production facilities in Denmark, France, USA and Germany. Chr. Hansen was founded in 1874 and is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen. For further information, please visit www.chr-hansen.com.

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