French sugar producer Cristal Union reports sharp drop in profits

Cristal Union (France's second largest sugar and ethanol producer) announced on Tuesday a 62% drop in its net profit for 2024/25, to 117 millions euros ($134million), due in part to the fall in sugar prices. The company also warned that results would be weak in the current fiscal period.

The cooperative reported that sales for the year ending January 31 fell to 2.65 billion euro from 2.8 billion euro the previous year. Adjusted earnings before interest tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which is a measure of adjusted profit, also dropped by a third, to 287 millions euros.

The weak European sugar price, coupled with high local supplies and Ukrainian imports, has also led to steep declines in profit for other European sugar and ethanol producers, including France's Tereos, and Germany's Suedzucker.

The group stated that the higher volumes offset in part the decline in European Sugar Prices and limited the drop in revenues.

The report said that the results for this year would be affected by a continued decline in sugar prices from the beginning of the year, as well as high costs.

The group stated that it expects to see sharply lower results in 2025/26 due to the more adverse market conditions, and sharply increasing agricultural and industrial production cost.

(source: Reuters)