2017 in brief
Total volumes were up 8 percent (7) and organic volume
growth was 5 percent (2).
Net sales amounted to SEK 26,436 million (22,057). The
increase was mainly due to positive product mix and
increased raw material prices, partly offset by a negative
currency translation impact of SEK 327 million.
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improvement of 11 percent. The currency translation
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The largest business area, Food Ingredients, reported an
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3 percent, to SEK 0.77 (0.75).
Business area Chocolate & Confectionery Fats reported
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1 percent, to SEK 1.82 (1.81).
The smallest business area, Technical Products & Feed,
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decreased by 17 percent, to SEK 0.30 (0.36).
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working capital was negative, amounting to SEK 388
million (negative 263). Good working capital management
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offset by a continued organic volume growth, a net negative
impact from higher raw material prices, and working
capital tied up for our new factories in Brazil and China.
Earnings per share increased by 19 percent, to SEK
28.24 (23.71).
Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), calculated on a
rolling 12 months basis, was 15.6 percent (15.8). ROCE
declined due to increased raw material prices which
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Brazil and China, and the acquisition of California Oils
Corporation in 2016.
In January, we launched our new company program The
AAK Way which will guide us through 2019. The AAK
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Market, Operational Excellence, Special Focus Areas,
Innovation, and People.
For the Annual General Meeting in May, the Nomination
Committee of AAK AB proposed new election of Mikael
Ekdahl as Chairman of the Board and Gun Nilsson and
Bengt Baron as Board members. The Annual General
Meeting resolved in accordance with the proposal.
Following the strategy to broaden our nutritional focus we
GHOLYHUHGRXU¿UVWYROXPHVRI$NRYLWD® in June. Akovita®
is our new product range for the senior nutrition market
and contains ingredients such as plant sterol esters which
are clinically proven to maintain and even reduce the
cholesterol level in the blood which is supported by Article
14(1) health claim in the EU.
In July, our CEO and President Arne Frank suddenly and
very unfortunately passed away. Arne joined AAK in 2010
and developed AAK into a world-leading player in the
market for value-adding vegetable oils and fats.
Our new speciality and semi-speciality edible oils factory
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September. With the new plant in operation, we have
taken a major step forward in our global growth strategy
and it brings us closer to our customers in yet another key
market. The fully automated, multi-oil and multi-process
plant has an initial production capacity of 100,000 MT
per year, and opens up many new possibilities for our
customers in China in a wide range of applications.
In November, AAK’s Board of Directors appointed Johan
Westman as new President and CEO of AAK AB. Prior
to joining AAK, Johan was Senior Vice President Europe
and Managing Director of the BlankLight division at Shiloh
Industries, a global innovative solutions provider to the
mobility market with headquarters in Valley City, Ohio,
USA. Johan will start no later than June 1, 2018.
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contract for TROPICAO™, our chocolate solution for hot
climate markets.
IV
Financial results
Key events