Chr. Hansen Holding — Earnings Release 2016

Apr 7, 2016

Hoersholm, 2016-04-07 08:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Company announcement no. 02/2016

2015/16 YTD IN BRIEF

Strong organic revenue growth of 13% in the first half of 2015/16: Food
Cultures & Enzymes (13%), Health & Nutrition (2%) and Natural Colors (22%).
EBIT before special items increased by 23% to EUR 118 million. In Q2, organic
growth reached 12%, and EBIT before special items increased by 22% to EUR 64
million. During the first half of 2015/16, Chr. Hansen was positively impacted
by the strong USD, while the negative impact from inflation in certain
countries was partly offset by the use of EUR-based pricing.

EUR million Q2 Q2 Growth YTD YTD Growth
2015/16 2014/15 2015/16 2014/15

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Revenue 228.9 208.8 10% 443.3 396.9 12%
EBIT before special items 63.9 52.5 22% 117.9 96.0 23%
Profit for the period 37.4 35.5 6% 76.3 65.3 17%
Free cash flow* 32.5 41.6 -12% 15.9 11.2 42%

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Organic growth 12% 12% 13% 11%
Gross margin 52.7% 50.4% 52.5% 50.8%
EBIT margin b.s.i. 27.9% 25.2% 26.6% 24.2%
ROIC excl. goodwill 36.0% 32.6% 34.3% 30.6%

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• Before acquisitions, divestments and special items

“The results in the first half of 2015/16 were encouraging, with strong growth
in Food Cultures & Enzymes and Natural Colors and strong improvements in the
profitability for both divisions. The modest growth in Health & Nutrition was
anticipated and we expect to see higher growth for the division in the second
half of the year,” says CEO Cees de Jong.

“During the second quarter we closed the acquisition of NPC, and we commenced
the integration of the two companies to ensure we realize the strong potential
of the combined business in the coming years.

“To support the Nature’s No. 1 strategy and to secure future growth in our
microbial businesses we have changed our organization by creating a shared
backbone for Food Cultures & Enzymes (previously the Cultures & Enzymes
Division) and Health & Nutrition covering research & development, production
incl. logistics, and IT.

“Based on the results for the first half of the year we raise our expectations
for organic revenue growth to 10-12% (previously 9-11%). The EBIT margin before
special items is still expected to be above the 27.1% achieved in 2014/15.”

OUTLOOK FOR 2015/16

The outlook for 2015/16 has been updated compared to the announcement of 14
January 2016.

Organic revenue growth: 10-12% (7 April 2016) / 9-11% (14 January 2016)

Research & development expenditures incurred (% of revenue): Around 7% (7 April
2016) / 6.5-7.0% (14 January 2016)

EBIT margin before special items: above 2014/15 (7 April 2016) / above 2014/15
(14 January 2016)

Free cash flow before acquisitions, divestments and special items: above
2014/15 (7 April 2016) / above 2014/15 (14 January 2016)

For further information, please contact:

Anders Mohr Christensen, Senior Director, Investor Relations
Tel: +45 4574 7618

Klara Halkjaer, Head of Media Relations
Tel: +45 5339 2362

About Chr. Hansen

Chr. Hansen is a global bioscience company that develops natural ingredient
solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural
industries. The products include cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural
colors, and all solutions are based on strong research and development
competencies coupled with significant technology investments. Revenue in the
2014/15 financial year was EUR 859 million. It has more than 2,600 dedicated
employees in 30 countries and main production facilities in Denmark, France,
USA and Germany. Chr. Hansen was founded in 1874 and is listed on Nasdaq
Copenhagen. For further information, please visit www.chr-hansen.com.