AMSTERDAM — Operating profit increased 6% at Corbion NV in the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2023, but sales dipped 1% as the Amsterdam-based company’s business units evolved, dividing into core activities and non-core activities.
Operating profit of €117 million ($127 million) compared with €111 million in the previous fiscal year. Sales decreased to €1.44 billion ($1.56 billion) from €1.46 billion. Organic sales growth was 1.2%. Currency had a negative impact of 2.2%.
In core activities, sales increased 0.8% to €1.26 billion from €1.25 billion. In non-core activities, sales fell 12% to €180 million from €204 million. On Jan. 26, 2024, Corbion agreed to sell its emulsifiers business, a non-core activity, to Kingswood Capital Management for about $326 million.
In Sustainable Food Solutions, sales fell 1.4% to €769 million. Organic sales growth was 0.7% as a 5.4% positive impact from price offset a 4.7% negative impact from volume/mix. Supply chain destocking, which Corbion believes has ended, drove the volume/mix decline.
“We observed strong growth in our product/market adjacencies like dairy stabilizers, natural antioxidants and natural mold inhibitors,” said Olivier Rigaud, chief executive officer of Corbion, when financial results were given March 1. “In Q4, we saw a continuation of the upward momentum in volume/mix growth reflecting the end of destocking.”
Corbion, in its Lactic Acid & Specialties segment, supplied less lactic acid to TotalEnergies Corbion, a joint venture, Rigaud said. Sales in the segment dropped 4% to €384 million. The organic sales decline was 2%.
Sales within Algae Ingredients increased by 50% to €111 million. Organic sales growth was 54% behind positive impacts of 43% from volume/mix and 11% from price. Corbion already supplies algae ingredients to the aquaculture industry and is expanding into pet food and human nutrition.
In the fourth quarter, Corbion’s sales fell 8% to €353 million from €378 million in the same time of the previous year. Core activity sales were €312 million, down 4.5% from €327 million.
In the current fiscal year, Corbion expects organic volume/mix growth for core activities in a range of 2% to 6%. The company expects one-off restructuring costs of €15 million to €20 million as a result of a restructuring program.
