Dutch dairy cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina has reported a 26.9% increase in its full year net earnings to €274m, compared to €216m in 2011, driven by a higher operating profit and lower financing costs.
The cooperative posted a 7.1% increase in net revenues to €10.3bn, compared with €9.6bn in the previous year, due to shift in volumes from commodities to growth categories such as infant & toddler nutrition, dairy-based beverages and branded cheese.
FrieslandCampina posted a 19.6% rise in operating profit to €482m as the company passed on the increases in raw material and packaging to the sales prices. The operating costs increased by 6.5% to €9.8m due to higher packaging, raw materials and energy costs.
FrieslandCampina CEO Cees 't Hart said that every year the company invests about €400m to €500m, to achieve growth in order to process the increased quantity of member milk.
"Most of the investments are taking place in the Netherlands and, in particularly, in the area of expanding the production capacity of infant & toddler nutrition - the segment in which the most robust growth is being achieved by responding to the increasing demand from Asia for high-quality dairy products," Hart added
As at 31 December 2012 the company's net debt totaled €685m, €14m less compared with that in the earlier year.
For fiscal 2013, FrieslandCampina expects a slight rise in demand for dairy segment due to the increasing consumption at a global level, particularly in Asia, South America, Russia and Africa.
