Major events and developments H1 2016

• Food commodity pricing was volatile in the first six months of 2016 due to the influence of El Niño. While various spice and tea price levels rose, in some cases significantly, other commodities such as nuts went down in price and then stabilized later in the period. Prices of corn, millet and sunflower seeds stabilised at levels seen last year, with an upward trend in the latter part of the period.
• Performance remained very strong in Spices and Nuts. Catz International celebrated its 160th anniversary with yet another great performance. Food Ingredients showed a strong performance while Tea increased volumes but at lower margins. Edible Seeds stabilised both in Europe and the US, with the US recording a similar result to last year. In Europe performance improved compared with the same period in 2015.

Over the first six months of 2016, the consolidated sales recorded by Amsterdam Commodities N.V. (Acomo) increased by 3.1% to € 341.8 million (H1 2015: € 331.7 million). The total gross margin increased by 1.3%, keeping the gross margin as a percentage of sales close to last year’s figure. The absolute increase was mainly due to a strong performance by the Spices and Nuts segment, as well as by the segment Food Ingredients. The increased tax expenses versus prior year are impacted by the higher profit before tax, and a non-taxable one-off gain in 2015. H1 2016 net profit of € 17.2 million is in line with the first half of 2015.

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