German sugar company Suedzucker has announced that its full fiscal year operating profits will not match last year's results due to the decline of the global sugar market price and the weak dollar.
Despite predicting a double-digit rise this time last year, operating profits have slipped in this second quarter to €118 million from €121 million. However, the sugar refiner said it had expected operating profits to fall after its first-half came in at €232 million in the period March to August compared to €235 million a year earlier.
With a global decline in sugar market prices, the prospects of the company's Eastern European sugar business appeared to not have been enough to keep this year's operating profits afloat.
However, despite an overall fall in net sales last year, the company has announced a turn around in net profit this year of €59.9 million from €53.2 million. Sales increased from €1.106 billion to €1.114 billion.
Despite the lower operating profit, the company claims that its net profit rose in the period because of the positive effect of restructuring measures and an upward revaluation of investments.
Suedzucker, the largest sugar company in Europe, has announced that despite its operating profit fall, sales continue to rise boosted by a better restructuring result and an expected reduction in goodwill writedowns.