Avignon, 31 July 2017 – Naturex, the global leader in speciality plant-based natural ingredients, announces its 2017 second quarter and first half revenue:

Consolidated revenue for the 2017 first half amounted to €207.5 million, largely stable over the two quarters, compared to the high base for the same period in 2016. Like-for-like (constant currency and structure)¹, revenue contracted marginally 1.9%.
 

Message of Olivier Rigaud

“The steady performance for 2017 first-half sales was on track with the roadmap presented at the start of the year and consistent with the "Simplification and Execution" pillar of our Bright2020 strategic plan.

During this period, we accelerated efforts to reduce the number of SKUs which impacted the level of sales of our two business platforms, My Natural Food and My Natural SelfCare. At the same time, progress was made in optimising our product mix through our four strategic categories².

At the geographical level, the deployment of our regional organisation has strengthened our presence in emerging countries and consolidated our strategic position in the nutraceutical market in North America, while the EMEA region suffers from unfavourable base effects slowing its progression.

This progress in the structure of our sales mix, combined with operating expense efficiencies and the optimisation of our performance levers will positively impact H1 2017 recurring operational EBITDA, in line with our execution plan.

On that basis, we are confident in the outlook for the second half as we fully concentrate on accelerating our growth by exploiting the potential of the Bright2020 strategic plan's three engines: innovation & science, consumer focus and emerging markets.

Olivier Rigaud, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Naturex

Analysis of revenue by business market and geographical region

My Natural Food had revenue in the 2017 first-half of €107.1 million compared to €107.9 million in the prior year's same period. This performance continued to be driven by positive underlying trends for specialty plant-based natural ingredients with colouring and antioxidant properties in particular.

The 2017 second quarter thus registered a marginal decline from a high comparison base for the same period in 2016.

My Natural SelfCare had revenue of €71.5 million, slightly above the level achieved in the 2016 first half, in light of Naturex's commitments in the areas of sustainable access to natural resources, traceability and quality control of its raw materials and plant extracts.

The 2017 second-quarter confirmed the first quarter's return to growth with in particular the development of phytoactives associated with clinical studies.

Revenue for Other activities was largely stable at €28.9 million for the period.

The Europe/Africa/Middle East region had revenue of €69.8 million in the 2017 first half compared to €77.8 million for the same period in 2016. This region is particularly impacted by product references streamlining, amplified by the postponement for the region of invoicing for a specialty nutraceutical product which masks the positive effects from the commercial approach implemented in strategic categories.

The 2017 second-quarter registered a marginal improvement in sequential growth, though was adversely affected by the high comparison base from the 2016 second quarter. Also to be noted is the adverse currency effect from the GBP on a portion of sales.

Revenue in North America amounted to €91.4 million, up from €90.9 million confirming a return to growth for the nutraceutical business activity in the United States.

The 2017 second-quarter was down slightly from the same period in 2016, reflecting the base effect from the food processing business.

The emerging markets of Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region continued to show strong momentum to reach combined sales of €46.2 million, representing 22.2% of Group revenue.

In the 2017 second-quarter, growth in Latin America was impacted by volatility in certain product categories whereas the sales for the Asia-Pacific region in this period reflected the transfer of billings from Europe.

Quaterly revenue highlights by business

Quaterly revenue hughlights by region

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About Naturex
Naturex sources, manufactures and markets natural speciality ingredients for the food, health and cosmetic industries. As the Natural Maker, the company actively supports the global shift from synthetic to natural through an offer built on two main focus areas: My Natural Food and My Natural Selfcare. Naturex's portfolio includes colours, antioxidants, speciality fruits & vegetables, phytoactives, and numerous other plant-based natural ingredients, designed to create healthy, authentic and effective products.

The Group's strong commitment to quality, sustainability, continuous innovation process, and the talent of its people are at the heart of its success.

Headquartered in Avignon, France, Naturex has experienced steadily-increasing growth throughout the last 25 years. The Group employs 1,700 people worldwide and in 2016 had revenue of €404.4 million.
The Group is listed on Euronext Paris, Compartment B – Index: Euronext Next 150, Enternext CAC PEA-PME 150, CAC Small & Mid, CAC Small, Gaïa – Ticker: NRX – Reuters: NATU.PA – Bloomberg: NRX:FP – DR SYMBOL: NTUXY
NATUREX, From Nature to You

¹ A €3.4 million currency effect (positive for USD and AUD, negative for GBP)

² Strategic product categories identified through the Bright2020 strategic plan: Natural colours, natural antioxidants, fruit and vegetable-based ingredients, and phytoactives.