DLG achieves fine profits in Germany with EBT of EUR 44 mln

The Danish DLG Group, which is owned by Danish farmers and is one of Europe's largest agricultural companies, collected 60% of the Group's turnover in 2015 in Germany, which amounted to EUR 439 mln. The turnover has been garnered primarily from the Group's three core business areas Agribusiness, Premix & Nutrition and Service & Energy.

"Our subsidiaries, HaGe AG, Team AG and Deutsche Vilomix, have all posted satisfactory profits in 2015. We now have a solid basis for creating further growth within our core business areas in Germany in 2016," says Kristian Hundebøll, Group CEO, DLG.

We have had a satisfactory year overall in HaGe, where we have expanded our market share in a number of areas. Furthermore in January, HaGe took steps to purchase the remaining 37% assets in Roth Agrarhandel, which is a strong company with a market share of 30% in the German federal states of Thüringen, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Hessen.

"With the purchase of the remaining assets in Roth Agrarhandel, HaGe becomes the market leader in crop production on the market in eastern Germany. This fits in well with the DLG Group's growth strategy on the German agribusiness market by being a market leader generally," says Kristian Hundebøll, who is watching the rapid consolidation of the German market with great interest.

Handsome profits in the energy business area
Team AG has continued the satisfactory trend from 2014 and has followed the plans for objectives and met expectations for the year 2015. This was done by reducing costs and by introducing a new structure in the energy sales offices.

Nutrition is profitable
The subsidiary Deutsche Vilomix, which is part of the business area Premix & Nutrition has also had an excellent year, which has rubbed off on the bottom line.

"Deutsche Vilomix has delivered very satisfactory pre-tax profits of EUR 6.7 mln. Once again, the company has been able to expand its market share. The German feed market is undergoing change, but our quality solutions for both farmers and the feed industry has ensured us a greater volume," maintains Kristian Hundebøll. The increased volume has meant that the production plant in Haldensleben has invested in larger warehouses for both raw materials and finished products, which will be taken into use soon.

DLG is therefore well prepared in Germany for 2016, and this also applies to the Danish group as a whole, which reached a turnover of EUR 7.3 bln in 2015 and annual profits of EUR 68 mln. DLG has followed its 'Back to the core' strategy, which comprises the divestment of non-strategic activities and companies, including those in food and telecommunications.