Food ingredients maker Chr Hansen's first-quarter sales growth beats forecasts (updated)

Chr Hansen Holding A/S

13/01/2022 08:43

(Adds share reaction, CFO interview)
    COPENHAGEN, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Food ingredients maker Chr
Hansen  CHRH.CO  on Thursday posted first-quarter organic
revenue growth well above forecasts, helped by a rebound in
sales of probiotics used by people to support the immune system.
    Its shares, which were down some 12% over the past year
before the market opened, rose as much as 6.5% in early trade on
the Copenhagen stock exchange. 
    Denmark's Chr. Hansen, which counts some of the world's
largest food manufacturers among its customers, posted organic
sales growth of 9% for the first quarter in its 2021/2022
financial year, above an estimate of 4.4% growth in a poll
compiled by the company.
    "We were positively surprised by our human health business,"
Chief Financial Officer Lise Skaarup Mortensen told Reuters,
referring to the firm's portfolio of probiotics which are live
bacteria used in yoghurt and dietary supplements. 
    She said the sales had especially been boosted by the
reopening of physical stores, which had been shut due to the
coronavirus, in mature markets like Italy.
    First-quarter sales were also higher due to the timing of
orders delayed from the fourth quarter, when sales disappointed.
   The company, which sells enzymes and bacteria used in
products like dairy, dietary supplements and wine, still
forecasts 5-8% organic growth and 27-28% EBIT margin for the
full year.
    "We don't (lift our outlook) because there are still too
many uncertainties including macroeconomic ones," said
Mortensen. 
 

 (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by David Evans, Elaine
Hardcastle)
 ((stine.jacobsen@thomsonreuters.com; +45 21 56 90 10; Reuters
Messaging: stine.jacobsen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))