– During the first nine months of the year sales rose + 8.2% to ITL 11,251 billion
– Gross operating profit rose 10.9% to ITL 1,352 billion (12% of sales)
– Net operating profit rose 9% to ITL 836 billion (7.4% of sales)


Today’s meeting of the Board of Directors, chaired by Cav. Lav. Calisto Tanzi, examined the Report on Operations for the third quarter of 2001 (July 1 to September 30).


Operating results for the first nine months of 2001, corresponding to the period from January 1 to September 30


In the first nine months of the year the Parmalat Group achieved satisfactory overall growth and reported a 8.2% increase in sales, compared with the same period in 2000, accompanied by rises of 10.9% in gross operating profit and of 9% in net operating profit.


Organic volume growth amounted to 3.4%, equal to the increase reported for all of 2000 and essentially in line with the 3.5% reported during the first nine months of 2000. Sales rose by almost ITL 851 billion during the first three quarters.

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Moreover, net of disposals relating to 2000, the Group benefited from the consolidation of acquisitions made during the previous year and at the start of the current year. On the other hand, sales were negatively affected by the recession in Argentina, the weakness of the Brazilian economy and the exchange performances of some of the Group’s key operating currencies, especially the Brazilian real, the Australian dollar and the South African rand.


A breakdown of sales during the first nine months of the year by geographical area compared with comparative data for the same period of 2000 (figures shown in brackets) reveals the following:  32% in Europe (31%), 35% North and Central America (32%), 25% South America (28%) and 8% in the rest of the world (9%).


The EBITDA margin (gross operating profit of ITL 1,352 billion on sales) settled at 12%, an improvement compared to the 11.7% posted for the same period of the previous year and the 11.8% reported for all of 2000.


Due to greater charges for amortisation and depreciation, the EBIT margin (net operating profit of ITL 836 billion on sales) stood at 7.4%, unchanged from the same period of the previous year and entire 2000. Amortisation and depreciation accounted for 4.6 % of sales during the first nine months of the year compared with 4.3% for the same period of the previous year and 4.4% in 2000 as a whole.
Total interest expense for the first nine months of 2001, net of interest income and after negative exchange differences (totalling around ITL 20 billion), due to the negative trend in the exchange rates reported during the third quarter for some of the Group’s operating currencies, amounted to ITL 195 billion, compared with ITL 168 billion for the same period of the previous year.


The impact of interest expense on sales, net of negative exchange differences, was 1.6%, in line with the corresponding period of 2000.


Operating performance for the third quarter of 2001, corresponding to the period July 1 to September 30


 

























































(millions of lire)


Period January 1 –


September 30, 2001


Period January 1 –


September 30, 2000


 


Change


2000


(Jan. 1 – Dec. 31)


Sales


11,251,491


10,400,783


850,708


14,230,217


Other revenues


274,007


202,584


71,423


217,674


Operating costs before amortisation and depreciation


(10,173,374)


(9,384,153)


(789,221)


(12,761,859)


Gross operating profit (EBITDA)


1,352,124


1,219,214


132,910


1,686,032


Amortisation and depreciation


(516,382)


(452,559)


(63,823)


(631,601)


Net operating profit (EBIT)


835,742


766,655


69,087


1,054,431


EBITDA margin


12.0%


11.7%


 


11.8%


EBIT margin


7.4%


7.4%


 


7.4%


 


























































(thousands of euro)


Period January 1 –


September 30, 2001


Period January 1 –


September 30, 2000


 


Change


2000


(Jan. 1 – Dec. 31)


Sales


5,810,910


5,371,556


439,354


7,349,294


Other revenues


141,513


104,626


36,887


112,419


Operating costs before amortisation and depreciation


(5,254,109)


(4,846,511)


(407,598)


(6,590,949)


Gross operating profit (EBITDA)


698,314


629,671


68,643


870,764


Amortisation and depreciation


(266,689)


(233,727)


(32,962)


(326,196)


Net operating profit (EBIT)


431,625


395,944


35,681


544,568


EBITDA margin


12.0%


11.7%


 


11.8%


EBIT margin


7.4%


7.4%


 


7.4%


During the third quarter of 2001, consolidated sales grew by ITL 116 billion, or 3.1%, with respect to the ITL 3,712 billion reported for the corresponding period in 2000 to reach ITL 3,828 billion.


Gross operating profit increased by 5.8% from the ITL 434 billion posted for the third quarter of 2000 to reach ITL 459 billion. In contrast, net operating profit rose by 5.0% from ITL 270.6 billion to ITL 284.2 billion.


The positive trend of operating profitability reported in 2000 and during the first six months of this year continued, due to ongoing rationalisation, the constant improvement of production and distribution processes and the contribution of new products, providing greater added value. The EBITDA margin (gross operating profit of ITL 459 billion on sales) settled at 12%, an improvement compared to the 11.7% for the same period in 2000 and the 11.8% reported for the whole of 2000. The EBIT margin (net operating profit of ITL 284 billion on sales) stood at 7.4%, essentially in line with the 7.3% reported during the third quarter of 2000 and unchanged with respect to the previous year.


During the third quarter of 2001, amortisation and depreciation accounted for 4.6% of sales compared with 4.4% during the corresponding period in 2000.
Total interest expense during the third quarter, net of interest income and after exchange differences, amounted to ITL 81 billion compared with the ITL 51 billion posted during the corresponding period of 2000. A significant amount of this increase, around ITL 20 billion, was due to negative exchange differences which, during the third quarter of 2001, had a significant impact due to the weakness of some of the Group’s main operating currencies.


Operating results during the third quarter of the year


















































(millions of lire)


3rd quarter 2001


(July 1 – September 30)


3rd quarter 2000


(July 1 – September 30)


 


Change


Sales


3,828,147


3,712,291


115,856


Other revenues


146,213


155,649


(9,436)


Operating costs before amortisation and depreciation


(3,515,042)


(3,433,942)


(81,100)


Gross operating profit (EBITDA)


459,318


433,998


25,320


Amortisation and depreciation


(175,081)


(163,360)


(11,721)


Net operating profit (EBIT)


284,237


270,638


13,599


EBITDA margin


12.0%


11.7%


 


EBIT margin


7.4%


7.3%


 


















































(thousands of euro)


3rd quarter 2001


(July 1 – September 30)


3rd quarter 2000


(July 1 – September 30)


 


Change


Sales


1,977,073


1,917,238


59,835


Other revenues


75,512


80,386


(4,874)


Operating costs before amortisation and depreciation


(1,815,367)


(1,773,482)


(41,885)


Gross operating profit (EBITDA)


237,218


224,142


13,076


Amortisation and depreciation


(90,422)


(84,369)


(6,053)


Net operating profit (EBIT)


146,796


139,773


7,023


EBITDA margin


12.0%


11.7%


 


EBIT margin


7.4%


7.3%


 


Financial position


Net debt decreased from ITL 4,398 billion as of December 31, 2000 to ITL 3,991 billion as of September 30 2001. A portion of the operating cash flow was utilised to cover financial needs arising from investment and working capital requirements.


Net financial position


















































(millions of lire)


September 30, 2001


June 30, 2001


December 31, 2000


Bank debt and debenture loans


Short-term


 


1,474,525


 


1,445,042


 


1,691,030


Medium-term convertible bonds


1,222,173


1,222,173


544,479


Other medium-term


6,538,593


6,369,610


7,469,966


Total bank debt and debenture loans


9,235,291


9,036,825


9,705,475


Cash and cash equivalents


Short-term


 


5,149,610


 


4,758,721


 


5,233,087


Medium-term


95,043


75,532


74,257


Total cash and cash equivalents 


5,244,653


4,834,253


5,307,344


Total debt net of cash and cash equivalents        


3,990,638


4,202,572


4,398,131


 


















































(thousands of euro)


September 30, 2001


June 30, 2001


December 31, 2000


Bank debt and debenture loans


Short-term


 


761,529


 


746,302


 


873,344


Medium-term convertible bonds


631,200


631,200


281,200


Other medium-term


3,376,901


3,289,629


3,857,916


Total bank debt and debenture loans


4,769,630


4,667,131


5,012,460


Cash and cash equivalents


Short-term


 


2,659,552


 


2,457,674


 


2,702,664


Medium-term


49,086


39,009


38,351


Total cash and cash equivalents 


2,708,638


2,496,683


2,741,015


Total debt net of cash and cash equivalents        


2,060,992


2,170,448


2,271,445


Total consolidated shareholders’ equity of Parmalat Finanziaria as of September 30, 2001, including pre-tax profit for the first nine months of the year, amounts to ITL 5,465 billion, equal to 2,822 million euros, compared with ITL 5,118 billion as of December 31, 2000. It should be noted that the change in consolidated shareholders’ equity was in part due to the negative performance of a number of key operating currencies which was charged to the “Consolidation reserve”. Such movements may, of course, be subject to future fluctuations in exchange rates.


Principal rates of exchange


The principal rates of exchange used to convert the balance sheets and profit and loss accounts of the various Group companies were the following:


Average rates of exchange













































Currency


Jan. 1 – Sept. 30, 2001


Jan. 1 – Sept. 30, 2000


Full year 2000


Venezuelan bolivar


2.9777


3.0793


3.0510


Australian dollar


1,122.5843


1,242.4287


1,219.1980


Canadian dollar


1,406.4295


1,413.3682


1,414.9860


US dollar


2,162.1320


2,080.1925


2,102.5870


Argentine peso


2,162.4472


2,080.0163


2,102.5880


South African rand


267.6245


309.1665


303.3260


Brazilian real


949.1368


1,157.3640


1,150.4070


End of period rates of exchange





































Currency


as of September 30, 2001


as of December  31, 2000


Venezuelan bolivar


2.8215


2.8565


Australian dollar


1,051.1781


1,154.6035


Canadian dollar


1,342.9533


1,386.5163


US dollar


2,120.5454


2,080.8920


Argentine peso


2,120.5454


2,080.8920


South African rand


235.5073


275.0696


Brazilian real


798.5936


1,063.8262


Operating performance and significant events during the third quarter of 2001.


The positive trend in sales volumes reported during the first part of the year continued into the third quarter.


From July 1 to the date of this report 360,000 “Warrants on the ordinary shares of Parmalat Finanziaria 2003” were subscribed. As foreseen in the relevant regulations approved by the Extraordinary General Meeting of December 19, 1995, subsequently updated by the resolutions passed by the Extraordinary General Meeting of April 30, 2001 regarding the re-denomination of the share capital in euro and the consolidation of the shares, this resulted in the subscription of a total of 187,200 Parmalat Finanziaria ordinary shares with a par value of 1 euro. The shares were allocated in return for payment of a unit price of 1.39443 euros each.


Following the above transactions, the Company’s subscribed, paid-in share capital as of the present date amounts to 796,803,367 euros, equal to ITL 1,542,826,455,421, represented by 796,803,367 ordinary shares with a par value of 1 euro each.


Significant subsequent events


In October an agreement was reached for the purchase of the assets of the Kraft Group’s Brazilian milk operations. The purchase will require an outlay of 33 million Brazilian reals and involves assets producing annual turnover of around 175 million Brazilian reals.


Moreover, a new organisational structure has been set up this month in order to integrate and strengthen the Group’s activities in North America. The new structure is already operational and is designed to promote synergies amongst the Company’s various activities in the area. The structure will allow all business units operating throughout North America to take full advantage of their know-how and professional skills.


Operating outlook


Forecasts indicate that the Group’s sales during 2001 will benefit from the consolidation of the acquisitions made during the previous year and not consolidated across the full financial year, and from the acquisitions made at the beginning of the current year, net of disposals during 2000. Organic volume growth is expected to remain in step with the trend seen during the first nine months of the year, whilst it is not possible to predict the performance of consolidated revenues, expressed in the Group’s unit of currency, given that this will depend on exchange rates over the year.


Continuation of the restructuring programme should result in confirmation of the consolidated operating profit margins seen during the first nine months of the year.


Milan, November 14, 2001