Sweden-based agrifood group Lantmännen has reported improved sales and profits from its food division in 2015, helped by its acquisition of Finnish bakery group Vaasan at the start of the year.
Net sales from the division – Lantmännen’s largest by sales and operating income – rose 17% to SEK13.07bn (US$1.55bn). Operating income hit SEK692m, compared to SEK492m in 2014.
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Lantmännen said the increase in sales was “largely due” to the company’s purchase of Vaasan from private-equity firm Lion Capital in January last year.
Higher earnings from Vaasan, as well as Lantmännen Unibake, which supplies foodservice outlets, boosted the division’s operating income.
Improved production efficiency and growth in “value-added categories and countries” led to the increase in profitability at Lantmännen Unibake.
In October, the first ground was broken for a new bakery in Nowa Sòl in Poland, which will include three high-efficiency
production lines.
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By GlobalDataIn June, a fire broke out at Lantmännen Unibake’s production facility in Londerzeel in Belgium, destroying the bakery. A new bakery will be rebuilt this year.
Lantmännen said its Lantmännen Cerealia division, which sells products including breakfast cereals and pasta, “is showing stable development”. During the autumn, Lantmännen was also granted a permit by Beijing to export processed oat products to China.
