German food ingredients maker Südzucker has booked an increase in half-year profits on the back of higher sales.
Südzucker reported a 23% increase in operating profit to EUR347m (US$474.3m) for the six months to 31 August.
The company said its sugar, CropEnergies and fruit divisions “contributed to this earnings improvement”.
Südzucker, which owns food ingredients maker Beneo, said its revenue was up 9% to EUR3.07bn.
The group maintained its forecast for annual operating profit of “more than” EUR600m and revenue of around EUR6.5bn.
Analysts at MF Global said the fact that Südzucker’s guidance stayed the same was “disappointing”.
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By GlobalData“We see this as disappointing given we believed a further guidance upgrade was likely given the recent strength in the world sugar price, and the better visibility that management has at this stage of the year due to most contracts for FY12 having been signed,” they wrote in a note to clients yesterday.
However, the analysts added: “We note that consensus expectations are for EBIT of EUR628m, indicating that an upgrade or at least a good beat to guidance is expected.”