To our shareholders

Dear shareholders, partners and friends of KWS,

We wish to inform you in this Annual Report about what has been an eventful and successful year. Of course, facts and figures are the measure of commercial success and are the focus of every Annual Report – and they are once again impressive! Significant growth in net sales, operating income and the dividend* as well as a record number of new variety approvals are convincing proof that KWS is on the right track.

We at KWS are proud of what we have achieved, but we are well aware that our current success is the result of good, far-sighted decisions in the past and a constant willingness to embrace change. Foresight and openness to change are therefore an important part of our corporate culture and determine our entrepreneurial activity.

I would like to give you two examples of how we have laid the long-term foundations for KWS’ future. Let’s first look at the changes in our corn business. In the fall of 2023, we divested our shares in the Chinese joint venture KENFENG – KWS SEED CO., LTD. and the Chinese corn portfolio with the related licenses, selling them to our long-standing joint venture partner. The main reason behind this decision was the long-term business prospects in the Chinese corn market, where the regulatory framework restricts the ability of foreign companies to operate. That situation would have led to competitive disadvantages in the long term. As a result of the divestment, we generated significant non-recurring income of around €28 million in the year under review. 

In March 2024, we also concluded an agreement to sell our South American corn business for an amount in the mid triple-digit million euro range. This move may have come as a surprise to some, as we had built up a strong position in the South American corn market in recent years with great breeding and sales successes. At the same time, our strong growth, particularly in our main market Brazil, was impacted by challenging economic conditions coupled with a constantly growing need for financing. 

In order to pursue KWS’ strategic goals with all our energy and focus, we decided that this was the right time and the right stage of development for our business to exit the corn seed market in South America. This step strengthens our financial flexibility and long-term profitability and thus also our future entrepreneurial independence. 

We are delighted to have found a suitable new owner with complementary strengths and is a “haven” for our South American colleagues: the Argentinian family-owned company GDM, a global provider in the field of plant genetics, particularly for soybean. In this context, it should be emphasized that our European corn business, with its strong market position in both silage and grain corn, is not on the agenda and for any disposal. KWS will remain a reliable partner for farmers here with our high-performance varieties and digital services. Another example of how we have laid long-term foundations is the establishment of our future vegetable business. In the past year, we have made great progress in building our new field of business in terms of personnel and expanding our breeding activities in Brazil, Spain, Türkiye, Italy, the Netherlands and Mexico.

In June 2024, we inaugurated a new research and breeding station in Uberlândia, Brazil. This hub will be important for our activities in the Brazilian and South American vegetable market, where we are developing varieties of tomatoes, melons and watermelons that are well adapted to tropical and subtropical conditions. At our Andijk site in northeastern Netherlands – a center of global vegetable breeding – a new R&D center will be built by spring 2025 to expand our research and breeding activities there, particularly for outdoor crops such as spinach and beans. 

Our international vegetable breeding team has already grown to to over 300 employees at ten locations. They are driving our breeding programs in different regions and with different focuses – with the common goal of developing new and better varieties and putting them successfully on the market. Whether you are new to KWS or have been with us for a long time, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues who work for KWS worldwide every day with great dedication and expertise for their commitment and the successes we’ve achieved in the past fiscal year! We are convinced that the satisfaction and motivation of our employees can best thrive in an atmosphere of respect, personal responsibility and diversity. That is why I’m personally very pleased that the clear majority of all participants in a recent employee survey expressed their satisfaction with KWS as an emloyer. This result is a great incentive for us to continue creating the best possible working conditions for our employees moving ahead.

Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our many customers, business partners and shareholders for their trust in KWS. I hope you find our 2023/2024 Annual Report both informative and interesting.

The Supervisory Boards of KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA and its personally liable partner, KWS SE, suffered a great loss with the death of their Chairperson, Philip Freiherr von dem Bussche, on April 8, 2024. Philip von dem Bussche had informed the company’s shareholders of his serious illness at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on December 13, 2023, but was determined to continue discharging his duties. He did so fully with impressive discipline up to Easter 2024. A tribute to him can be found in the annual report. 

The complete Report of the Supervisory Board can be downloaded here.