Milling & Baking News - January 16, 2007 - 25

YEAR-END
R E V I E W

strengthen the company's foundation for
future expansion."
As part of the initiative, Ahold said it
plans to reduce operating costs by €500
million ($638 million) by the end of 2009
as the company focuses on retail food
markets in the United States and Europe.
In addition to U.S. Foodservice, Ahold
said it plans to divest the Tops retail banner in the United States. The company,
which earlier declared its intent to sell
Tops stores in Northeast Ohio, said it now
plans to sell the remaining Tops operation
in New York and Pennsylvania.
DSM, the Dutch chemical company with
food ingredient interests, gained 8% for the
year, closing at €37.40.
CSM, the Dutch company with a strong
presence in baking ingredients in North
America and in Europe, also finished higher. At €29.19, the company's share price was
up 27% from the 2005 close of €23.03. In August, CSM announced that its two merged
companies, Caravan Products Co., Inc. and
American Ingredients, were to be named
Caravan Ingredients on Jan. 1. Also last
year, CSM acquired CGI Desserts, Inc. for
$70 million in cash plus $5 million in debt.
Based in Sugar Land, Texas, CGI Desserts
operates one production plant and supplies
thaw-and-serve fully decorated cakes and
upscale dessert cakes.
In Switzerland, Nestle S.A., the world's
largest food company, closed at SFr432.75,
up 10% for the year. Nestle shares traded
at a high of SFr449.25 during the year and
a low of SFr355. Nestle was busy on the
acquisition front in 2006, acquiring Jenny
Craig, a company that offers a range of
branded nutritional products and services
in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New
Zealand for approximately $600 million.
The Jenny Craig acquisition followed the
acquisition of the Uncle Toby's cereals and

Foreign stocks,
2006 share price
performance
Tate & Lyle P.L.C.
Northern Foods
Carr's Milling
Associated British Foods
Marks & Spencer
IAWS Group
Greencore Group
Kerry Group
AWB Ltd.
Nissin Food Products
Nippon Flour Milling
First Baking Co.
Yamazaki Baking
Indofood
Flour Mills Nigeria
Danone
Danisco A/S
Ahold n.v.
CSM
DSM
Unilever
Nestle S.A.
Alexandria Flour
Egyptian Starch
North Cairo Flour
Tiger Brands Ltd.

United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland
Australia
Japan
Japan
Japan
Japan
Indonesia
Africa
France
Denmark
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
Switzerland
Egypt
Egypt
Egypt
South Africa

37%
-24%
8%
-2%
42%
60%
40%
-5%
-50%
29%
-6%
-28%
20%
48%
231%
31%
-0.2%
28%
27%
8%
7%
10%
-22%
104%
-42%
18%

nutritional snacks business in Australia.
Danisco A/S in Denmark eased narrowly
lower, closing at DKr481.5 after finishing
at DKr482.5 in 2005. During the year, Danisco implemented a plan to streamline the
organization and management structure
of its Ingredients business segment, which
involves consolidating to four product divisions from nine. The moves are designed to
ensure the Ingredients segment achieves an
EBIT margin of at least 15%.
A year after most grain-based foods
companies in Asia finished higher, a more

mixed tone settled in that market.
Nisshin Seifun, the Japanese holding
company that includes Nisshin Milling,
Japan's largest flour miller, closed at Y1228,
down 1% from a year earlier. Nippon Flour
Milling fell 6% for the year, closing at Y492,
compared with the year's low of Y426 and
the high of Y609.
Nissin Food Products, a leading manufacturer of instant noodles, posted a gain of
29%, closing at Y4410. The strong gain followed a 33% improvement in 2005.
Baking leaders Yamazaki Baking and First
Baking were a mixed bag in 2006. Yamazaki
closed at Y1154, up 20% from Y960 in 2005;
First Baking finished at Y169, down 28%
from Y236 in 2005.
Indonesia's Indofood, one of the largest
food producers in Asia, closed the year at
R1350, up 48% from its 2005 finish.
In South Africa, Tiger Brands Ltd. posted
another strong showing, closing at R17100,
up 18%. The improvement comes on the
heels of gains of 50% and 57% in 2005 and
2004, respectively.
Egyptian companies engaged in flour
milling turned in sluggish performances
with the exception of Egyptian Starch,
which saw its shares gain 104% in 2006.
Meanwhile, Alexandria Flour fell 22% in
2006 after a 239% gain in 2005, while North
Cairo Flour fell 42% following a surge of
227% in 2005.
One of the most impressive gains in foreign grain-based foods shares occurred in
Africa, where Flour Mills Nigeria P.L.C.
surged 231%. Flour Mills Nigeria is primarily involved in flour milling, pasta production and cements production.
In Chile, Quinenco closed the year up 62%.
Granoleo S.A. in Brazil again struggled, easing 19% following a dip of 4% in 2005. Molinos Rio Plata in Argentina closed at $4.25, a
6% decline from its 2005 finish. MBN

Z4ece
SHAWNEE FLOUR
R
Bakers , H & R

Institutional

Private Label
All Purpose

Self-Rising

I
1:,

SHAWNEE.
A SYMBOL OF QUALITY

26 / Milling & Baking News, January 16, 2007

OKEENE FLOUR
Bakers , H & R

and Institutional

SHAWNEE CORN MEAL
White * Yellow

Corn Meal Mixes

Corn Flours & Corn Cones

www.shawneemilling.com
sQarlow(ã2shawneemi!IinQ.com

Shawnee Milling Company
P0. Box 1567 * Shawnee , OK 74802-1567
405-273-7000

f 906"

Okeene Milling Company

P.O. Box 1000 * Okeene , OK 73763

405-822-441 1

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.shawneemilling.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - January 16, 2007

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