Chr. Hansen delivered 9% organic growth in Q1. “The encouraging start to the year with organic growth of 9% and progress across all business areas and strategic initiatives underlines the strength of our 2025 strategy, differentiating us as a bioscience company focused on microbial and fermentation technology platforms. Food Cultures & Enzymes continued its strong momentum in the first quarter, while Health & Nutrition delivered a strong rebound following a Q4 that fell short of expectations. EBIT b.s.i. developed favorably at 7% growth, despite the impact from inflation and a general increase in activities as we reconnected with customers. The EBIT margin b.s.i. was down compared to last year due to the full inclusion of the HMO activities. We maintain our outlook for the full year,” states CEO Mauricio Graber.
Q1 2021/22 highlights
- Revenue amounted to EUR 268 million, up 10% from EUR 243 million in Q1 2020/21.
- Organic growth was 9% driven by volume growth. The Lighthouses (Bioprotection, Fermented Plant Bases, Plant Health and HMO) delivered 35% organic growth combined, while the remaining Core businesses delivered 7% organic growth.
- Food Cultures & Enzymes organic growth was 7% driven by volume.
- Health & Nutrition organic growth was 13% driven by volume.
- Implementation of price adjustments to reflect the current inflationary pressure is progressing as planned in close collaboration with customers and is expected to have an effect from Q2 onwards.
Outlook
The outlook for 2021/22 remains unchanged from the original guidance provided on October 14, 2021:
- Organic growth is expected in the range of 5-8%.
- EBIT margin before special items is expected to be 27-28%.
