AAK, the Swedish manufacturer of speciality vegetable fats used in food, chocolate and confectionery applications, has reported a record high first quarter operating profit, driven by continued strong performance in Food Ingredients. Profits, at SEK 242 million, were up 10% compared to the corresponding quarter in 2012.
The company’s Food Ingredients business also recorded a record high result of SEK 158 million, up 15%.
Chocolate & Confectionery Fats improved by 4%.
During the first quarter, the company’s volume increased by 6%. Food Ingredients continued to demonstrate very strong development, particularly in Infant Nutrition and Latin America, while commodity volumes in the UK and Scandinavia continued to decline somewhat. Chocolate & Confectionery Fats and Technical Products & Feed improved slightly.
“Based on AAK’s customer value propositions for health and reduced costs, our customer product co-development and solutions approach, and the AAK Acceleration program, we continue to remain prudently optimistic for the future,” said Arne Frank, CEO and president. “The main drivers are expected to be the strong Food Ingredients business and the expected recovery in Chocolate & Confectionery Fats. Irrespective of market conditions, the anticipated improvement in the Chocolate & Confectionery Fats results is however unlikely to be significant until the second half of 2013.”
The integration of recent acquisitions, Oasis and Crown, are said to be progressing according to plan.
