Milling & Baking News - January 16, 2018 - 25

Stock Market Review

2016 has transformed Greencore's market and channel position in the United
States and given it a growth platform of
"real scale," Gary Kennedy, chairman of
Greencore, noted in the company's 2017
annual report.
Kerry Group finished the year at €93.5,
up 38% from €67.67 in 2016. In October, Kerry confirmed its acquisition of
Ganeden, Inc., which offers patented probiotic ingredients. The acquisition will fit
into Kerry's nutrition, wellness and functionality portfolio, said Edmond Scanlon,
chief executive officer and executive director of Tralee-based Kerry Group, during the company's capital markets day.
"Our acquisition of Ganeden strengthens our position in the nutritional actives
market and enables us to use additional
technologies to build our immune health
and gut health market platforms," said
Frank Hayes, director of corporate affairs
for Kerry Group.
Origin Enterprises, a food and agribusiness group based in Dublin, finished
the year at €6.34, down narrowly from
€6.35 in 2016 and compared with €7.55 in
2015.
In Australia, GrainCorp Ltd. closed the
year at A$8.19, down 14% from A$9.56 in
2016. The company's stock price fluctuated throughout the year, rising as high
as A$10.55 in June before falling to a low
of A$7.465 in late November. The company in early April completed the sale
of its 60% stake in Allied Mills Australia
Pty Ltd. to Pacific Equity Partners. Allied Mills is Australia's largest supplier
of flour and bakery pre-mixes to bread
stores, in-store supermarket bakeries and
the industrial food service sector.
Agrium Inc. closed 2017 at $115, up
from $100.55 in 2016. As of Jan. 1, Agrium
had merged with PotashCorp to create
Nutrien Ltd. The combined company has
more than 1,500 farm retail centers and
employs more than 20,000 people across
operations in 14 countries.
In France, Groupe Danone S.A., the
country's largest food and beverage
company, closed 2017 at €69.95, up 16%
from €60.20 in 2016. Danone in April
completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of
The WhiteWave Foods Co. Based in Denver, WhiteWave Foods is an international
competitor in the plant-based, organic
dairy and organic produce categories.
The company owns such brands as Silk,
So Delicious, Horizon Organic, Earthbound Farm and Alpro. The company
generated approximately $4.2 billion in
sales during fiscal 2016.
In The Netherlands, Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch food and personal products
business, closed 2017 at €46.955, up from
€39.12 in 2016. Unilever in April signed
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

an agreement to acquire Sir Kensington's,
a New York-based condiment manufacturer, and in May invested in Sun Basket,
an organic meal kit delivery service. Unilever wrapped up 2017 by announcing in
December that it has entered an agreement to sell its Spreads business unit to
investment company KKR for more than
$8 billion.
Ahold, the Dutch-based company with
global food retailing and food service
operations, finished the year at €18.335,
down from €20.03 in 2016, while DSM,
the Dutch chemical company with food
ingredient interests, increased 40% to
€79.67 from €56.96 in 2016.
Corbion finished higher in 2017, moving up to €27 from €25.43 in 2016. In September, Corbion acquired algae-based
ingredients company TerraVia Holdings,
Inc. for approximately $20 million.
"TerraVia brings us a versatile microalgae-based platform, which will enable
us to expand into the field of producing
specialty lipids and proteins, structured
fats and tailored oils," said Tjerk de Ruiter, c.e.o. of Corbion. "TerraVia's I.P. portfolio and R.&D. pipeline, as well as its
partnerships with industry leaders, provide high-growth opportunities for many
years to come."
In Switzerland, Nestle S.A., the world's
largest food company, closed at 83.8 Swiss
francs, up 15% from 73.05 Swiss francs in
2016. In December, Nestle said it completed a strategic review and now plans to
sell its U.S. confectionery unit by the end
of the first quarter, which would be the
end of March. Lydia Méziani, senior corporate spokesperson for the Vevey-based
company, said a "robust sale process" is
underway.
Aryzta A.G. closed 2017 at 38.65 Swiss
francs, down from 44.85 Swiss francs in
2016. Aryzta undertook several leadership changes during 2017, including the
appointment of Kevin Tolad as c.e.o.
Later in 2017, Aryzta reached an agreement to sell its La Rousse Foods business
to Musgrave Group P.L.C. The sale of La
Rousse is part of a larger strategic review
underway at Aryzta to try and reinvigorate the business.
Share price movement in Japan was
mixed during 2017. Nisshin Seifun, the
Japanese holding company that includes
Nisshin Milling, Japan's largest flour miller, closed at Y2276, up 30% from Y1754 in
2016. Nisshin's Rogers Foods Ltd. business in late October hosted a grand opening event to celebrate the addition of a
second milling line and an expansion of
wheat and flour storage at its flour mill
in Chilliwack, B.C. The second milling
unit has a daily capacity of 4,000 cwts of
flour, which brings total daily capacity at

the mill to 9,000 cwts, up about 80% from
its previous daily capacity. Also as part of
the $35 million expansion, Rogers Foods
has added 110,000 bus of wheat storage
and 22,000 cwts of bulk flour storage.
Nippon Flour Mills Co. Ltd. increased
6% for the year, rising to Y1728 from
Y1626, and Nissin Foods Holdings, a
leading manufacturer of instant noodles,
increased to Y8230 from Y6140. In November, Nissin said its Nissin Foods Co.
Ltd. instant noodle unit is looking to raise
$145 million as part of an initial public offering.
Baking leaders Yamazaki Baking and
First Baking Co. Ltd. were down in 2017.
Yamazaki closed at Y2197, down 3% from
Y2258 in 2016. First Baking, meanwhile,
finished at Y1218, down from Y1370 in
2016.
Olam International, which supplies
food and industrial raw materials to more
than 13,800 customers worldwide, finished at 2.03 Singapore dollars, up from
1.99 Singapore dollars in 2016. Olam Cocoa on April 27 marked the opening of a
cocoa innovation center in Willowbrook,
Ill., outside Chicago, and also launched
a new cocoa powder brand, Huysman,
for the North American and Asia Pacific
markets. The center will assist Olam's
customers in refining and reformulating
existing recipes, provide proof of concept opportunities and aid in developing
new products in such categories as baked
foods, beverages, cereal, chocolate confectionery, dairy, biscuits and ice cream..
Wilmar International, which operates
in four segments - tropical oils, oilseeds
and grains, sugar and others - decreased
14% to 3.09 Singapore dollars from 3.59
Singapore dollars in 2016.
Indonesia's Indofood, one of the largest food producers in Asia, increased 7%
to R7625 from R7125 in 2016.
South Africa-based Tiger Brands Ltd.
rose in 2017, finishing at R46000, up 16%
from R39783 in 2016.
Egyptian companies engaged in flour
milling were higher in 2017, led by a
144% gain at Middle Egypt Flour. Other gains included: Egyptian Starch, up
141%; South Cairo and Giza Flour Mills,
up 130%; North Cairo Flour, up 99%;
Upper Egypt Flour, up 94%; Middle and
West Delta Flour Co., up 79%; and East
Delta Flour Co., up 62%.
In Africa, Flour Mills of Nigeria P.L.C.
increased 57% after declining 11% in
2016, 48% in 2015 and 50% in 2014. Flour
Mills of Nigeria is primarily involved in
flour milling, pasta production and cements production.
In Spain, Ebro Foods shares fell to
€19.52 from €19.91 in 2016. MBN
- Eric Schroeder
Milling & Baking News

January 16, 2018 / 25

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

Milling & Baking News - January 16, 2018

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