Novozymes reports lower Q1 sales on US bioethanol market weakness

Danish biotechnology company Novozymes has released its interim report for the first three months of 2019, noting a decline in sales due to weakness in US bioethanol.

According to the company, all businesses developed roughly as expected with the exception of the US bioethanol industry.

Organic sales growth was down 4% in the first three months of this year, with bioenergy down 8% and agriculture & feed down 6% compared to the previous year period.

Net profit reported by Novozymes was 14% lower year-on-year, while the company announced a free cash flow before acquisitions of DKK 0.4 billion (€53.57 million).

“The first-quarter decline in sales was no surprise – we communicated this back in January. We also expected US bioethanol to be down, but the decline was larger than we had foreseen,” said president and CEO Peder Holk Nielsen.

“The floods in the Midwest have made it tougher for our customers. With the problems continuing into April, it will be difficult to reach the top end of the guided organic sales growth range, and we adjust our outlook to 3-5%. We’re confident sales growth will increase during the year as innovations, the freshness platform, BioAg seasonality and Bioenergy all step up, and the Middle East comparison gets easier.”