Strong growth of net sales
and earnings
Overview
Business performance in 2023 | 2024
The KWS Group's net sales rose strongly by 12% to €1,678.1 (1,500.3) million in fiscal year 2023/2024. On a comparable basis1, net sales rose by around 16%. The operating result (EBIT) recorded considerable growth of 55% to €302.0 (195.1) million, while the corresponding EBIT margin also improved significantly to 18.0% (13.0%). EBIT includes a one-off positive earnings contribution (€28 million) from the sale of the Chinese corn business. Earnings per share rose by 46% to €5.58 (3.82). Free cash flow improved to €56.8 (50.0) million.
1 excluding currency and portfolio effects
| KWS Group (in € millions) from continuing operations | 2023/2024 | 2022/2023 | 2021/2022 | 2020/2021 | 2019/2020 | 2018/2019 |
| Net sales | 1,678.1 | 1,500.3 | 1,275.8 | 1,158.6 | 1,138.3 | 982.1 |
| EBITDA | 388.1 | 278.8 | 230.0 | 205.6 | 199.8 | 184.9 |
| EBIT | 302.0 | 195.1 | 141.5 | 118.3 | 118.1 | 142.0 |
| Net income for the year | 184.1 | 126.1 | 106.4 | 99.9 | 83.8 | 110.1 |
| Cash flow from operating activities | 152.2 | 151.6 | 150.5 | 185.3 | 111.1 | 99.3 |
| Number of employees (avg.) 1 | 4,673 | 4,391 | 4,222 | 3,977 | 3,995 | 4,126 |
| Earnings per share (in €) from continuing operations | 5.58 | 3.82 | 3.23 | 3.03 | 2.54 | 3.34 |
| Dividend per share (in €) 2 | 1.00 | 0.90 | 0.80 | 0.80 | 0.70 | 0.67 |
Segments
In the Corn Segment, net sales fell by 5.0% to €701.5 (738.1) million in a challenging market environment in Europe and North America; on a comparable basis1, the decline was 0.6%. The increase in segment earnings to €38.9 (18.7) million is attributable to the positive earnings contribution from the sale of the Chinese corn business in the amount of approximately €28 million. The segment's EBIT margin rose from 2.5% to 5.6%, taking into account the aforementioned one-off effect.
Net sales in the Sugarbeet Segment rose significantly by 20.7% to €864.9 (716.3) million. On a comparable basis1, the increase was 27.5%. The sustainable product innovations CONVISO® SMART and CR+, which continued to record high demand in the 2024 growing season and accounted for 56% (46%) of segment net sales, played a key role in this positive development. At €350.1 (253.4) million, segment earnings were up significantly on the previous year as a result of the dynamic sales performance. The EBIT margin improved significantly to 40.5% (35.4%).
In the Cereals Segment, sales rose significantly to €275.9 (247.1) million, mainly due to buoyant growth in oilseed rape, rye and wheat seed. That equates to an increase of 11.7%. Net sales growth on a comparable basis1 amounted to 14.5%. Against the backdrop of the positive sales trend, the segment result increased significantly by 28.6% to €50.4 (39.2) million. The EBIT margin increased to 18.3% and was therefore also significantly higher than the previous year's figure (15.9%).
Sales in the Vegetables segment fell by 5.9% to €62.1 (66.0) million in the reporting year. On a comparable basis1, sales fell by a similar amount of 5.6%. The segment’s income fell sharply to €–34.7 (–11.8) million as a result of the operating performance, the planned increase in expenditure on establishing our vegetable breeding activities and higher amortization of intangible assets from the acquisition of Pop Vriend Seeds.
Net sales in the Corporate segment amounted to €9.2 (8.3) million. This is mainly generated by KWS' agricultural operations. Since the Corporate Segment includes overarching costs for the KWS Group's central functions that cannot be allocated to the other segments, as well as research expenditure, the segment's income usually negative. The segment's income fell to €-127.1 (-115.0) million, mainly due to general cost increases, particularly for personnel and planned higher research expenditure.
1 excluding currency and portfolio effects
Forecast
Forecast for fiscal year 2024 | 2025
We expect the KWS Group to grow its net sales on a comparable basis (excluding exchange rate effects) by 2% to 4% over the previous year (€1,678 million). We anticipate that the EBIT margin will be in the range of 14% to 16%, while our R&D intensity is expected to be between 18% and 19%.