Copenhagen, Denmark
January 23, 2020

Novozymes today announced its results for 2019. Organic sales performance of -1% (Q4 +1%) in 2019. Household Care +1% (Q4 +5%), Food & Beverages -1% (Q4 +2%), Bioenergy -3% (Q4 +2%), Agriculture & Feed -5% (Q4 -9%), Tech. & Pharma -3% (Q4 4%). EBIT margin 28.1% (~26% underlying). Net profit decline of 2%. Free cash flow before acquisitions DKK 2.2 billion. 

Peder Holk Nielsen, President & CEO: “Despite sales improving in the second half of the year, our 2019 performance was not satisfactory. Our ag - exposed businesses were volatile and did poorly , whereas Household Care showed healthy signs of recovery in the third and fourth quarters. 2019 was also a year of change, with the launch o f our strategy ‘Better business with biology’. Driven by innovation, broader commercial presence and a stronger focus on execution and follow - up, we expect to do better in 2020. Nevertheless, we are cautious about the volatile ag - exposed businesses”.

Highlights 12M 2019:

• Organic sales performance -1% (Q4 +1%) and 0% in DKK (Q4 0%)
• Household Care delivered according to expectations set out at the beginning of the year
• Bioenergy, BioAg, and Food & Beverages negatively impacted by weak agricultural markets  
• Organic sales in both developed and emerging markets declined by 1%
• Nine new broad market launches and an additional eleven customer specific launches 
• EBIT margin of 28.1% (~26% underlying) and net profit decline of 2%
• Free cash flow before acquisitions: DKK 2.2 billion; net investments excl. acq.: DKK 1.0 billion
• Proposed dividend of 5.25 DKK/share. 5% growth in dividend and 46.8% payout ratio
• Proposal to elect Mr. Heine Dalsgaard, CFO of Carlsberg, to the Board of Directors at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be held on February 26
   

2020 outlook: Organic sales growth of 1-5% reflecting solid new product performance but uncertainty remains about agricultural markets. EBIT margin at ~27% and ROIC incl. goodwill expected at 20-21%. FCF before acquisitions is expected at DKK 2.5-2.9 billion and decision made to initiate a stock buyback program for up to a total of DKK 1.5 billion.

Novozymes’ executive leadership team will present the results at a conference call today at 9:00 am CET:

https://getvisualtv.net/stream/?novozymes-group-financial-statement-for-2019

The entire earnings report can be downloaded at novozymes.com.

Website: https://www.novonesis.com/en

Published: January 23, 2020