Strauss Group: posts 2.4 percent net profit growth

Petach Tikva / IL. (sg) Israel´s Strauss Group Limited posts 1.8 percent organic sales growth excluding foreign currency effects and 2.4 percent net profit growth for the first quarter 2015. President and Chief Executive Officer Gadi Lesin: «Thanks to the Group´s international strategy and the robustness of the companies in the various countries of operation, Strauss Group has posted stable results of operations and has even improved the net profit despite dealing with complex economic challenges and political crises. Strauss Coffee´s companies in Russia and Ukraine, which drew considerable attention in prior quarters, are coping successfully and according to plan with the crisis in those countries while other global growth drivers continue to develop. Against the backdrop of increasingly fierce competition between market players, Strauss Israel´s operating profit was down by only six million NIS. We are investing considerable efforts in product innovation and continue to apply streamlining measures throughout the length of our value chain, which will contribute to Strauss´s ability to contend with the challenges that the market in Israel will continue to pose this year». For further details, please follow the linkt to the MD+A Report (PDF) and the Analyst Presentation (PDF). Q1/2015 highlights:

• Organic sales growth, excluding the foreign exchange effects, was 1.8 percent. Shekel sales were 1.9 billion NIS compared to 2.0 billion NIS in the corresponding quarter last year, and reflected 67 million NIS negative translation differences as a result of the continued strengthening of the NIS versus other functional currencies of the Group.
• Gross profit was 729 million NIS (37.8 percent of sales), down 7.6 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. Gross margins were down 2.2 percent.
• Operating profit (Ebit) was 197 million NIS (10.2 percent of sales), down 3.1 percent compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Ebit margins were down 0.1 percent.
• EPS for shareholders of the company was 0.95 NIS per share, up 2.3 percent compared to the corresponding period.
• Negative cash flows from operating activities totalled 150 million NIS, compared to positive cash flows of 15 million NIS last year.