Norwegian food group Rieber & Søn saw a drop in sales for 2009 – although profits rose through cost-control measures and a bid to drive efficiency.
Rieber & Søn increased its operating profit by 16% to reach NOK424m (US$72.5m) and said it had met its targets for improving profits.
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The figure was positively affected by “one-off effects” totalling NOK32m.
Sales remained “stable” over the last two years, the firm said today (28 January), dipping to NOK4.97bn from NOK4.99bn in the previous year.
Currency conversion effects reduced sales by 0.4% for the year. Organic growth increased 0.4%.
CEO Patrik Andersson said: “We have seen a decline of sales in Russia and in the foodservice market in Europe as a result of the general decline in economic activity. In addition, we sold part of our onion business in the Netherlands. This resulted in lower sales revenues. In all other markets where we are present, we have maintained or increased sales.”
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By GlobalDataThe firm said it aims to increase earnings per share by one Norwegian krone each year until 2011.
“In 2009 the goal was 3 Norwegian kroner and we ended up on 3.32 Norwegian kroner including one-off impact,” Andersson said.
For the fourth quarter, sales amounted to NOK1.26bn compared to NOK1.38bn in 2008. Organic growth dropped 2.4% for the period.
Operating profit, however, increased by more than a third to NOK185m.
The firm said it plans to continue with its efficiency programme and focus on reducing costs.
