21/06/12

Belgian bakery, patisserie and chocolate company Puratos has said that that its final 2011 results met original expectations.

Net sales reached €1,212 million (+11%), resulting from volume growth and price/mix effect, and the contributions by acquisitions in Latvia and Brazil. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) amounted to € 108.3 million, up by 4%.

Puratos said that its results demonstrated the continued success of the company, in line with its long-term strategy, which is further confirmed by the good 2012 early-year results and a positive outlook.

It noted [articular successes in a number of Western European, Asian and South American countries, and in particular in the BRIC countries.

In order to continue the rollout of its strategy for the future, in 2012, the Puratos Group is set to spend a record amount of capital expenditure – in total close to €80 million.

The projects include the construction of a new R&D centre in Groot-Bijgaarden (Belgium), the second year of the major upgrade of the manufacturing facilities in Pennsauken (New Jersey, USA), the upgrade of manufacturing facilities in Groot-Bijgaarden, and the completion and start-up of a greenfield manufacturing plant in Guangzhou (China).

The company said that its growth strategy remains focused on its mid-term and long-term milestones; namely, to achieve turnover amounting to €2 billion by 2018 and € 5 billion by 2030.