Dutch food and nutrition group Numico has reported a 4.8% decline in 2002 net sales to €3.97bn (US$4.36bn).
The company reported full year EBITA of €561m, compared to €662m in 2001. Net profit for 2002 excluding extraordinary items came in at €134m, compared to €155m in 2001. Including extraordinary items the company recorded a 2002 net loss of €1.6bn, compared to a profit of €230m in 2001.
The company, which recently announced the sale of its Unicity unit, said divestments of non-core activities were on track and that it expects all divestitures to be announced before the end of June 2003.
Numico also announced the signing of a letter of intent on the sale of its dairy product operations in Brazil, of which it said it would provide more details at the completion of the deal, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2003.
The company said that with its current strategic initiatives, both its baby food and clinical nutrition units should exceed their combined 2002 EBITA by 3-5% in 2003 on a comparable basis.
