BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - CropEnergies AG, a unit of German sugar producer Suedzucker AG (SUEZF.PK), reported Wednesday lower earnings and revenues for the first nine months of the financial year 2018, as expected. The company also backed its forecast for fiscal 2018.
In the nine months, the EBITDA decreased to 48.5 million euros from previous year's 88.2 million euros, due to lower ethanol prices and higher raw material costs.
The operating profit of 19.1 million euros was lower than prior year's 59.3 million euros. Operating margin was 3.2 percent, down from previous year's 8.7 percent.
Improved sales prices for food and animal feed products mitigated the reduction in earnings.
CropEnergies' revenues dropped to 596.1 million euros from previous year's 678.9 million euros. Lower sales volumes also contributed to the decrease in revenues.
Looking ahead, for the year, CropEnergies still expects revenues of 770 million euros to 800 million euros, compared to previous year's 882 million euros. Operating profit is expected to reach 25 million euros - 40 million euros, down from 72 million euros last year, and EBITDA is expected in a range of 65 million euros - 80 million euros, down from 111 million euros last year.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX