The Dutch company, HZPC Holdings is the global leader in potato breeding. They announced that the consolidated net turnover for 2017/2018 was set at €300 million. This was at a shareholders meeting, held on 4 October and this amount was a slight decrease compared to the previous year.
The total volume of HZPC Holding's seedling potatoes (also under license). It increased from 797.000 tons last year to 816.000 tons this year. The gross margin, which was €59 million last year, amounted to €55 million. Their net results fell from €8,5 million to €4,7 million. The dividend on HZPC certificates has been set at €4.
Looking back and looking forward
Gerard Backx, HZPC Holding's CEO says, "We had a lower profit margin in the 2017/2018 fiscal year than the previous record year. The 2017/18 year was a good one for HZPC, even if the previous year could not be matched. The demand for seed potatoes lagged significantly behind that of the previous peak year. This decrease was due, in large part, to the low price of consumption potatoes in Europe. Nevertheless, we succeeded in maintaining our market share in this continent, which is important to our company."
There were very different circumstances and developments all over the world", he continued. "In America, for example, there were very good prices this past year. In contrast, the prices in India, in particular, were very low. Despite this, HZPC succeeded in selling a larger volume of seed potatoes than the previous year. The sales in Russia even doubled last year. HZPC is focused on the long term. The company will continue to invest in genetic improvement, markets, and product development, unabated."
HZPC is cautious about the 2018/2019 financial year. The dry weather during the 2018 summer in Europe meant there was a significantly reduced harvest. This resulted in lower expected profits", Backx concluded.
Dividend yield
On 4 October, the shareholder (the HZPC Association) and the Supervisory Board of HZPC Holding discussed and adopted the financial statements, among other things. They made an amount of €3,1 million available for dividend payouts. This resulted in a dividend of €4 per share certificate. This represented a dividend yield of 2% at a certificate price of €200 (May 2018). The next trading day on which the price will be set again in on 2 November 2018.
For more information:
Gerard Backx
Naomi de Boer
HZPC
+31 (0) 513 489 888
+31 (0) 628 153 239
info@hzpc.nl
naomi.deboer@hzpc.com
www.hzpc.com