Barilla Group: revenues up 2,5 percent in 2013

Parma / IT. (bg) «Good for You, Good for the Planet» is the philosophy that inspires the Barilla Group´s development plan and that, in 2013, was implemented with a number of concrete actions combining growth and sustainability. The decision to present the 2013 financial report and the 2013 sustainability report together for the first time is in line with this guiding principle.

Performance highlights

  • 2013 Revenues 3,5 billion EUR (operating revenues plus 2,5 percent, exchange rate impact for minus 1,0 percent, divestments for minus 13 percent);
  • 2013 Recurring Ebitda 425 million EUR (twelve percent of revenues);
  • Net debt 347 million EUR (574 million EUR in 2012);
  • 2013 Finished product volumes plus four percent; CO2 emitted by plants minus two percent;
  • CO2 emitted by plants down by minus 27 percent since 2008; water consumption minus 25 percent;
  • 41 Products reformulated to improve nutritional profile;
  • twelve new whole grain products or that contain fibers.

«In 2013, the new strategy became fully operational, allowing the Company to overcome the difficult economic situation», said Guido Barilla, the Chairman of the Barilla Group. «This strategy focuses on key operations designed to provide higher quality products and to achieve targeted growth in the main markets where we are present and in selected emerging economies. We have condensed it as «Good for You, Good for the Planet». We want to promote correct eating habits, while reducing our environmental impact», added the Chairman of the Group.

Economic performance

In terms of economic performance, the sale of the German company Lieken was finalized in 2013, following the sale of the logistics company Number1. Revenues for 2013 stood at 3’535 million EUR (operating income plus 2,5 percent like for like; plus 1,4 percent taking into account of exchange rate effect of 1,0 percent, minus 11,5 percent taking account of Lieken consolidation up to May 2013). Recurring Ebitda for 2013 was to twelve percent of revenues (versus 10,8 percent in 2012). In absolute terms, recurring Ebitda decreased from 433 million EUR in 2012 to 425 million EUR in 2013.

The significant reduction in net debt continued. From 688 million EUR in 2011, to 574 million EUR in 2012, down to 347 million EUR in 2013.

The company posted growth in its main product categories – pasta, sauces and bakery products – as well as in its target markets. Gluten-free pasta, whole grain «Cornetti» (croissants) and the new sauces are just a few examples of new successful products. From a geographical standpoint, Barilla developed specific pasta lines for countries that are deemed strategic for the company´s future development, such as Brazil, Russia and China. The excellent performance in the Brazilian market in 2013 is to be emphasized, with the business that nearly doubled in one year.

In Italy, in 2013, volumes increased by one percent. Even though the market is contracting, Barilla continued to invest in its home country: after opening the sauces plant in 2012, the company opened an automated warehouse in 2013 and has recently started to build wheat storage silos with a railway link, thus reducing by 50 percent road transport of durum wheat to Parma, where the world´s largest pasta plant is located.

Good for You, Good for the Planet

As part of «Good for You, Good for the Planet», Barilla began to open the doors of its factories, from the harvesting of raw materials, to production, through to the finished product. Along the path to sustainability, the Group is entering into a series of supply chain agreements, in order to ensure a virtuous model of agriculture: providing superior products requires excellent raw materials.

While volumes continued to grow, in 2013 the CO2 emissions of the Group factories decreased by 27 percent versus the figures of the previous five-year period and the total water consumption of the same plants decreased by 25 percent over the same period. Our ambitious, but feasible, target for 2020 is to reduce by 30 percent both CO2 emissions and water consumption per ton of finished product.

Important developments were made also in terms of products. In 2013, the Barilla Group reformulated 41 products to improve their nutritional profile; twelve new whole grain products were introduced or that contain fibers and five products from which additives were eliminated.

Inspired by the Barilla Center for Food + Nutrition (BCFN), the think-tank that became the BCFN Foundation in early 2014, the Company has placed the double food-environmental pyramid within its growth strategy and has the target of doubling the volumes of the products at the base of the food pyramid by 2020.

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