Emmi Delivers Solid, Broad-based Results
Emmi Group, the Swiss and international dairy business, increased sales by 2.8% (2.3% in organic terms) to SFr3.457 billion (€3.046 billion) in 2018 and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by 5.3 % to SFr217 million. Adjusted net profit was 8.6% higher than the previous year at SFr175 million.
Emmi produced a good sales performance in all three major business divisions. The business division Europe and recent acquisitions made an important contribution to this result.
Group sales were at the upper end of Emmi’s forecasts, and earnings were slightly higher. Emmi expects comparable organic growth and higher EBIT in 2019. The medium-term forecasts have been adjusted slightly upwards in terms of net profit margin.
Urs Riedener, chief executive of Emmi Group, comments: “We once again found ourselves in a challenging environment in 2018. Emmi can therefore be proud of its solid performance and high stability. The broad-based product portfolio in terms of regions and segments and attractive brand concepts are important success factors. Thanks to them, we are able to absorb economic and political uncertainties and the resulting difficulties in planning.”
Conditions in Switzerland remain challenging for Emmi. Sales in the Switzerland business division Switzerland will therefore remain under pressure, especially as the positive effect of a higher milk price is likely to be eliminated in 2019. Emmi’s goal is to achieve stable to slightly higher organic sales in Switzerland through strong brand concepts.
Strong brands and added-value concepts are also an important success factor in the Europe business division. While it is currently very difficult to assess the impact of Brexit on Europe as a whole, Emmi anticipates organic growth in Europe.
In the business Americas division, Emmi expects further significant growth in demand in Tunisia (milk, fresh products), the US (cheese, goat’s milk specialities) and Chile (milk, fresh products) in 2019. Foreign currency effects in countries such as Chile, Mexico and Tunisia will remain an issue, however.
