Company Announcements

AD-HOC ANNOUNCEMENT

Publication of inside information under article 17 MAR

 

Vienna, 24 April 2025

Dividend proposal of € 0.70 per share for the 2024|25 financial year
Group operating profit (EBIT) in 2025|26 on par with prior year

Following the conclusion of the audit of its consolidated financial statements, AGRANA generated operating profit (EBIT) in its 2024|25 financial year (1 March 2024 to 28 February 2025) in an amount of € 40.5 million (prior year: € 151.0 million). Exceptional items amounted to € –36.4 million and the share of results of equity-accounted joint ventures ultimately amounted to € 0.5 million. Earnings per share declined to € –0.07 (prior year: € 1.04). Consolidated revenue amounted to € 3,514.0 million (prior year: € 3,786.9 million).

The provisional plans for the 2025|26 financial year sufficiently accurate to allow the Management Board to make an initial forecast for the new financial year. For the 2025|26 financial year (1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026), AGRANA expects EBIT to be around the level of the prior year (0% to +1% or 0% to –1%). Consolidated revenue is expected to decline slightly (by more than –1% and by up to –5%).

The EBIT in the first quarter of the 2025|26 financial year is forecast to be very significantly lower than in the prior-year period (Q1 2024|25: € 32.3 million). On the one hand, the operational earnings environment in the Sugar segment is expected to remain very weak, and, on the other, extraordinary personnel expenses associated with plant closures in March 2025 will also have to be taken into account in this segment.

With regard to this guidance, it should be taken into account that further impacts are expected as a result of the ongoing Ukraine War and the associated intensification of the extreme volatility prevailing in sales and procurement markets. This applies in particular to the further development of tariff-free imports of agricultural products from Ukraine (e.g. sugar and cereals) into the EU. The economic and financial impacts, as well as the duration, of the ongoing upheaval affecting global tariff policies is also difficult to forecast.

The Management Board of AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG has today decided – subject to a corresponding resolution passed by the Supervisory Board – to propose a dividend payout in the amount of € 0.70 per share at the Annual General Meeting for the 2024|25 financial year (dividend for 2023|24: € 0.90 per share). This is equivalent to a dividend payout ratio relative to the closing price on the balance sheet date (28 February 2025) of 6.6%. The Supervisory Board meeting is planned for 8 May 2025 and the Annual General Meeting scheduled to take place on 4 July 2025.

AGRANA therefore remains committed to a predictable, reliable and transparent dividend policy that is geared to continuity. The dividends are based not only on the result but also on the Group’s cash flow and debt situation, while simultaneously maintaining a solid balance sheet structure.

The publication of the Annual Report 2024|25, in addition to all the details relating to the annual results for 2024|25 and the outlook for 2025|26, will take place as scheduled on 9 May 2025.

This announcement is available in German and English at www.agrana.com.