Operating profit, including a positive currency translation impact of SEK 12 million, reached SEK 562 million (516), an improvement of 9%. Operating profit per kilo improved by 8% to SEK 0.97 (0.90).

In Food Ingredients, operating profit improved by 9% to SEK 349 million (321), while in Chocolate & Confectionery Fats, operating profit improved by 13% to SEK 205 million (182).

For the full year, total volumes were up by 2%. Organic volume growth was 2%. Sales amounted to SEK 28,510 million (27,592), an increase of 3%. Operating profit reached SEK 2,142 million (1,956), an improvement of 10%. Operating profit per kilo reached SEK 0.94 (0.87), an increase of 8%.

Johan Westman, AAK CEO, said: “Our profit growth continued in the fourth quarter with both Food Ingredients and Chocolate & Confectionery Fats reporting strong year-over-year improvement. We continue to improve our margin and our operating profit per kilo.”

“Food Ingredients continue to grow, improving its operating profit by 9%, primarily driven by our semi-speciality solutions in Dairy, Bakery and Foodservice. The performance within the Special Nutrition segment was mixed. Lower birth rates in China and destocking by some customers had a negative impact on Infant Nutrition sales in the fourth quarter while we saw continued growth for Medical Nutrition. Our business with solutions for plant-based foods generated strong volume and profit growth.”

“Chocolate & Confectionery Fats reported double-digit profit growth, driven by favorable spot business opportunities in the quarter as well as an improved product mix. We continue to see pressure from some customers to roll contracted volumes forward. Our investment projects to increase capacity and strengthen our supply chain have been completed according to plan. The sourcing season for new kernels in West Africa has been good and we have managed to build an adequate safety stock to secure future production needs. With new kernels at hand and additional capacity, we expect to reach normal cost levels within the business area by the middle of the first quarter 2020.”

“We have during the year reviewed our market and our capabilities to define AAK’s strategic direction going forward. Building on a very strong historical performance, we will preserve the DNA of our company. Passion, drive and entrepreneurship that can be found in all corners of AAK, our unique co-development approach and customer centricity, and our determined focus on sustainability will remain key going forward.”

“The strategic direction will be focused on the opportunities within the specific industries we serve as well as sustainability, health and nutrition. We will step up our focus and investments within Plant-based Foods and develop a Health & Nutrition platform. For Special Nutrition and Chocolate & Confectionery Fats we will invest for continued growth while focusing on optimizing our performance within Bakery and Dairy.”

“We are well positioned with our offer of plant-based, healthy, high value-adding oils and fats solutions, using our customer co-development approach. We continue to see favorable underlying trends in our markets and we remain prudently optimistic about the future.”