Gains from the sale of its private label operations helped prop up first-quarter earnings at Dutch food group Royal Wessanen.
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The company said today (9 May) that operating profit rose 13% to EUR12.1m (US$16.4m) despite a 6% drop in revenue.
Last December, Wessanen sold its Delicia and Dailycer private label businesses in the UK, France and the Netherlands for EUR104m.
Wessanen saw turnover fall to EUR388.5m due to lower sales in North America and, the company said, due to the weak dollar against the euro. Revenue from its distribution business in North America fell 5%.
In Europe, Wessanen’s first-quarter profits rose 5% to EUR13m as revenue climbed 4.5% to EUR150.1m.
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By GlobalDataCEO Ad Veenhof insisted the results were “fully in-line” with expectations. He added: “Our brands performed quite well. Now that we have divested our private label activities, we are gradually increasing our merger and acquisitions initiatitives to further strengthen organic growth.”
Last month, Wessanen and Rabobank’s Rabo Capital agreed to merge their own-brand and private label frozen snack operations.
A new company is to be created, unifying the activities of Habek Snacks and Wessanen’s production of ragout rolls (‘kroketten’), hamburgers, meat rolls (‘frikandellen’) and halal snacks.
