(Corrects the cause of the drop in sugar prices in Europe since the end of 2023)
May 29 (Reuters) – France’s leading sugar producer Tereos reported record annual net profit almost threefold in one year on Wednesday, to 448 million euros, as the group benefited from a surge in prices sugar.
Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) increased by 15% to 1.13 billion euros during the financial year ended March 31, on a turnover which increased by 9 % to 7.14 billion euros, the group said in a press release.
Tereos also reduced its net debt, scrutinized on the bond market, to 2.37 billion euros as of March 31, compared to 2.70 billion euros a year earlier.
A drop in sugar prices in the European Union since the end of 2023, linked to an increase in beet surfaces and imports of Ukrainian sugar, could however weigh on the group’s results for its current financial year, warned at the start of the year Olivier Leducq, general director of Tereos.
His comments echo those of his peers including Suedzucker, Europe’s largest sugar producer, and its unlisted German rival Nordzucker, which also posted strong results earlier this month.
Tereos, which also makes ethanol, is one of the world’s largest sugar producers thanks to its operations in the sugar cane sector in Brazil. (Report by Sybille de La Hamaide; French version by Dagmarah Mackos, edited by Kate Entringer)
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