ABF Ingredients

07/05/2008 : ABF Interim results period ended 1 March 2008

Earnings growth of 8% and further substantial investment at ABF

Highlights

Group revenue up 15% to £3,706m
Adjusted operating profit up 9% to £296m*
Adjusted profit before tax up 5% to £282m **
Adjusted earnings per share up 8% to 25.2p **
Interim dividend per share up 4% to 6.75p
Net investment in capital and acquisitions of £363m
Net debt of £848m
Operating profit up 17% to £281m, profit before tax up 35% to £267m and basic earnings per share up 33% to 25.6p

George Weston, Chief Executive of Associated British Foods, said:

"These good results demonstrate that the group remains on track with strong growth from Grocery, Ingredients and Agriculture and another excellent performance from Primark. The development of our businesses continued apace, most notably with further substantial investment in Sugar and expansion at Primark.."

* before amortisation of non-operating intangibles, profits less losses on the sale of PP&E and exceptional items
**before amortisation of non-operating intangibles, profits less losses on the sale of PP&E, profits less losses on the sale and closure of businesses and exceptional items

All figures stated after amortisation of non-operating intangibles, profits less losses on the sale of PP&E, profits less losses on the sale and closure of businesses and exceptional items are shown on the face of the consolidated income statement.

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26/02/2008 : ABF Pre Close Trading Update

Associated British Foods plc issues the following update prior to entering the close period for its interim results to 1 March 2008, which are scheduled to be announced on 22 April 2008.

In our interim management statement issued on 17 January 2008 we reported that trading in the first 16 weeks had been fully up to our expectations. This trend has continued and our interim results will show good growth in the group's adjusted operating profit over the same period last year. Strong growth in Agriculture, Grocery and Primark more than offset the expected, and previously reported, decline in Sugar.

Recent investments, higher working capital and higher interest rates have increased the group's net financing costs. However, this impact will be largely offset by the lower underlying tax rate of 25% compared with 27% in the first half last year. Adjusted earnings will show good progress.

The income statement will include an exceptional gain of £16m following our decision to renounce permanently sugar quota in the UK and Poland. This comprises the compensation receivable from the EU restructuring fund less both the write-off of the unamortised cost of quota purchased in 2006 and costs relating to the closure of the York and Ostrowite factories.

During the half year we will have spent some £120m on acquisitions, primarily on certain of the European assets of Gilde Bakery Ingredients for AB Mauri and on the beet sugar factories in north east China. At the half year the group's net debt will reflect these investments, the higher working capital in Sugar expected at this time of year and higher working capital elsewhere resulting from the effect of substantially higher commodity prices on stocks.

Sugar & Agriculture
Sugar profit in the UK and Poland will be much lower than last year mainly as a result of the further effects of the EU sugar regime changes. The restructuring levy per tonne has been increased from €126 last year to €173 this year and the temporary reduction of quota increased from 152,000 tonnes to 191,000 tonnes. In the UK, profit was also impacted by higher energy costs and a smaller crop of 1.05 million tonnes which was affected by heavy mid-summer rains. Poland had an exceptionally good campaign with total production estimated at 227,000 tonnes and Glinojeck again set new operating records. The recent strengthening of the euro has benefited both businesses.

The European Commission has announced that a total of 2.6 million tonnes of sugar quota has been permanently renounced across the EU in the first phase of its enhanced restructuring scheme. This brings the total quota for sugar, inulin and isoglucose renounced to date to 4.8 million tonnes which is a substantial move towards the target set by the Commission. The second, and final, phase renunciation is expected to be announced at the end of March. As part of the first phase British Sugar has received confirmation that its application to renounce permanently 191,000 tonnes of UK and Polish sugar quota from October 2008 has been accepted. The financial consequences will be shown as an exceptional net gain of £16m. As anticipated there will be relief from the restructuring levy on the renounced quota in the 2007/8 marketing year amounting to £25m.

At Illovo, profits will be lower than the same period last year. Sugar production was impacted by very high rainfall making it impossible to harvest all available cane at the end of the season. Volumes in both South Africa and Zambia are lower than previously forecast although the total sugar production estimate of 1.8 million tonnes is still above the previous year. Operating performance was positive with good plant availability and sugar extraction in most areas. The capacity expansion in Zambia is progressing well.

The recent frosts in southern China will affect sugar production from our cane sugar business although the consequently firmer prices will have some mitigating effect on profit. Construction of a new cane sugar mill in Jianchenjiang with a capacity of 120,000 tonnes will be completed at the end of this year and will enable further growth. Eleven beet sugar factories have now been acquired in north east China and the campaign is progressing well with production of some 240,000 tonnes of sugar expected.

Agriculture performed extremely well with revenue up and profit sharply ahead of last year. Strong trading in the markets for cereals, nitrogen based fertilisers and other crop inputs led to an excellent result from Frontier. Further investment enabled KW Trident to benefit from high demand for sugar beet feed and co-products from the cereal, distilling and brewing sectors. However, in China, recovery of the dramatic increase in the cost of raw materials and energy has proved challenging.

Grocery
Grocery profits will be much higher than the same period last year, primarily as a result of a substantial improvement by Allied Bakeries but also due to strong performances from Twinings Ovaltine and George Weston Foods in Australia. The UK bakery business benefited from the continued improvement in operational performance, higher volumes and achievement of price increases that recovered the higher wheat costs. In Australia, the results also reflect improvements in bakery performance and successful recovery of higher wheat costs. Twinings Ovaltine again delivered strong sales growth, particularly from tea in the UK and US and from Ovaltine in Asia and developing export markets.

As expected profit at ACH has been impacted by sharp increases, to unprecedented levels, in the cost of corn, soy bean and canola oils. Price increases have now been achieved with further initiatives planned. The combination of Patak's and Blue Dragon is on plan, trading is encouraging and the new Blue Dragon factory in Poland is being commissioned. Grocery profit will include a charge for the closure of the existing factories in Wales. Westmill profit will be ahead of last year.

In February we agreed to acquire, subject to clearance by the regulatory authorities, KR Castlemaine, a manufacturer and marketer of meat products in Australia. The addition of the KR brand and the modern, low-cost factory at Castlemaine will strengthen our existing meat business.

Ingredients
Ingredients will achieve good sales growth but some higher input costs, specifically in our protein business, will adversely impact margin. Growth in enzymes has been achieved by a combination of increased sales resource with a wider geographical reach and the introduction of new products. In yeast, the Brazilian business benefited from lower operating and molasses costs and the expansion of the Argentinean plant has created one of the lowest cost plants in the world. Increased demand has led to further investment in additional yeast and yeast extract capacity in north east China and enzyme capacity in Finland. We sold our small UK-based emulsifier business at the beginning of February with completion subject to competition clearance.

Retail
Sales and profit at Primark were substantially ahead of last year reflecting the increase in retail selling space and a 4% increase in like-for-like sales. Christmas trading was ahead of our expectations. At the half year we will be operating from 173 stores and 5 million sq ft of selling space. Since last year end new stores were opened in Jerez and Madrid, bringing the number of stores in Spain to four, in Cork and larger stores in Tralee and Brighton which replaced smaller stores there. We expect to open a further eight stores in the second half including four stores in Spain.

For further enquiries please contact:
Associated British Foods
John Bason, Finance Director Tel: 020 7399 6500
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Jonathan Clare, Chris Barrie, Hannah Seward Tel: 020 7638 9571

11/02/2008 : 11 Feb 08 - AB Enzymes acquires Quantum Phytase feed enzyme business and technology

11 Feb 2008

AB Enzymes and AB Vista, both subsidiaries of Associated British Foods (ABF) plc, have today announced the acquisition of Syngenta's Quantum Phytase feed enzyme business and technology. AB Enzymes will take over responsibility for the Quantum supply chain and further product development, whilst AB Vista will manage Quantum sales & marketing.

Quantum Phytase is a unique enzyme with superior thermo-tolerance and efficacy, which will compliment the existing range of feed enzymes that AB Vista currently markets. Quantum sales are growing strongly in Latin America and market penetration is expected to increase further when product registrations in other major markets are completed.

Aryan Moelker, CEO AB Enzymes, said "the addition of this unique new enzyme is exciting in that it broadens our technology base and enhances our market reach. We are now well placed to meet the increasing global demand for heat stable phytases. The joint goal of our partnership with AB Vista is to build market leading positions in key feed enzyme segments. This acquisition significantly increases our opportunity to reach this goal."

CEO AB Vista, Richard Cooper said "Quantum feed phytase is widely regarded as the best researched, best performing phytase in the market. We are very excited by the opportunity to grow Quantum sales both via the infrastructure inherited from Syngenta and also through our own well developed channels. We see clear synergy with our launch and global rollout of Econase XT, a very thermo-tolerant Xylanase enzyme which has shown excellent efficacy in corn and wheat based diets. Quantum is also highly complementary to our existing Finase range of feed phytases which have a wide portfolio of registrations and sales in over 30 countries."

Neal Briggi, Head of Enzymes for Syngenta explained "Microbial Quantum Phytase has proven itself to be a best-in-class product, but we believe that the greatest future potential in this market for Syngenta lies in the truly unique approach of expressing useful enzymes directly in the grain and plants used as the raw material for many industries. This agreement will broaden market access for Quantum and make the technology available to a larger percentage of the animal nutrition market, while enabling Syngenta to better pursue our longer term goals for enzymes in Animal Nutrition and elsewhere."

24/01/2008 : 22 Jan 08 - ABITEC Ltd acquired by Danisco

In accordance with its strategic target of boosting growth in the core Ingredients business, Danisco has signed an agreement for the acquisition of the shares in UK-based emulsifiers producer Abitec Ltd. The acquisition is conditional upon the approval of the appropriate competition authorities.

Abitec Ltd. is situated in Northampton, UK, with a production plant employing 55 persons and generating revenue of around DKK 200 million. Abitec is currently part of the Ingredients division
of Associated British Foods plc and supplies emulsifiers and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) mainly to the European market.

Emulsifiers based on natural raw materials can be used by food producers to counter increasing raw material costs. Also, when changing from a trans fat to a non-trans fat content in food, Danisco offers knowledge to address the issues of capacity and performance needed to be taken into account when reformulating to trans free solutions.

'By combining Danisco's emulsifiers technology and production capability with Abitec's customer base and market access, we will create an even better platform for developing new products and supporting customer needs and thereby further enhance our position,' says Martin Klavs Nielsen, head of Danisco's Emulsifiers business.

Upon completion of the agreement, Abitec Ltd. will be integrated into Danisco's Emulsifiers business unit.

About Abitec Ltd.
Responding to customers' specific requirements, Abitec Ltd. produces a range of emulsifiers applied by the nutritional, cosmetic, personal care and food markets. Its food emulsifiers provide the functional properties required by today's modern food industry, performing many essential functions in a wide range of food applications such as bread, ice cream, margarine and dairy products.

For further information, please contact:

Martin Klavs Nielsen, Executive Vice President, Emulsifiers, tel.: +45 8943 5500
Julie Quist, Investor Relations Manager, tel.: +45 3266 2925
Helle Helgren, Media Relations Officer, tel.: +45 3266 2930

05/11/2007 : 5 Nov 07 - ABF Ingredients Announces Expansion into China

ABF Ingredients have today announced a further expansion of their Ohly Yeast Extracts business with the building of a new Yeast Extracts plant in Acheng, Harbin, China.

The plant will produce a full range of Yeast Extract Specialties and will be part of a joint expansion with its sister company, AB Mauri, who will further expand in Bakers Yeast at the existing Acheng, Harbin site in the Heilong Jiang province in North Eastern China.

The plant will produce in excess of 15,000 tonnes of Yeast Extracts for the food and fermentation markets. It will be on stream in 2009 with an investment of approximately $50million.

ABF Ingredients CEO, Stephen Catling said "this is a logical expansion to our Ohly Yeast Specialties business which further compliments our ability to service the market globally with our existing plants in Europe and the USA."

During 2006 and 2007, the company spent in excess of $15million on selective capacity expansions in their plants in Boyceville, Wisconsin and Hamburg, Germany.

CEO Ohly and Yeast Specialty Proteins, Robert Rouwenhorst said "the Yeast Extract market continues to grow, especially in the Asian region, we will be well placed to meet this demand".

ABF Ingredients is a division of Associated British Foods focusing on high value ingredients for food and non-food areas. Comprising of a range of ingredient companies including; AB Enzymes, ABITEC, Ohly, PGP International, Proteol and Protient.

The group have established strong market positions in cereal specialties, emulsifiers, enzymes, esters, extruded ingredients, lactose, specialty lipids, specialty powders, specialty flours, yeast extracts, whey protein concentrates/isolates and milk protein concentrates/isolates with locations worldwide.

For further information please contact Tracy Scribbins, Group Marketing Manager, ABF Ingredients, via email: tscribbins@abfingredients.com

17/09/2007 : 17 Sep 07 - Ohly expands Yeast Extract operations in Boyceville, Wisconsin

Ohly Americas (former Provesta Flavor Ingredients), a subsidiary of ABF Ingredients, celebrates with a Grand Opening on September 18th the new yeast extract operations at their plant in Boyceville, Wisconsin. A series of investments to expand the Boyceville facility to become a dual flavor ingredients and yeast extracts manufacturing facility have now been concluded.

A major step for Ohly Americas is the expansion of its product portfolio. Previously only torula extracts were manufactured at the Hutchinson, MN facilty. The new yeast extract operations at Boyceville allows the manufacture of products based on brewer´s, baker´s and torula yeast. These products are primarily used as ingredients for the flavor and savory food markets.

The expansions include indoor processing equipment, external raw material and product storage silos, a new warehouse as well as a new state of the art factory linked pilot plant. The research and development facilities will also be used for protein based food products and will be operated in co-operation with its sister company Protient, another subsidiary of ABF Ingredients.

Robert Rouwenhorst, Head of Proteins Division of ABF Ingredients says,“These investments will strengthen our abilities to develop and manufacture protein and yeast based derivatives designed for the food and nutrition markets.”

Ohly is one of the world’s leading suppliers of yeast extracts, yeast based flavours and specialty powders for the food, biotechnology, health and animal feed markets globally.

Ohly offers a wide range of products such as yeast extracts, inactive dry yeast, special vitamin yeast, yeast cell wall derivatives, medical yeast and autolysed yeast, based on baker´s and/or torula yeast, as well as wine yeast, specialty powders and starter cultures.

Using state of the art research and application centers as well as factory linked pilot plants combined with a wealth of expertise, Ohly also develops tailor-made products in close cooperation with customers to provide solutions to the changing market demands.

Ohly is part of the ABF Ingredients group, who focus on high value ingredients in food and non-food applications.

09/08/2007 : 9 Aug 07 - PGP International acquires Riverbend Rice Mill Inc

PGP International, a Division of ACH Food Companies, Inc. and an ABF Ingredients Company, today announced the acquisition of US specialty rice mill business, Riverbend Rice Mill, Inc., a specialty sweet rice milling company.

Riverbend Rice Mill, Inc. is strategically located in Colusa, CA, about fifty miles from PGP International’s operations in Woodland, CA, and in the epicenter of rice growing area of Northern California. Riverbend Rice Mill, Inc. was founded in 1993 to meet the specialty rice milling needs of its customers. From its founding to the present PGP International emerged as a major customer for its own export business.

At PGP International, we see the opportunity to vertically integrate our manufacturing operations and broaden our core capabilities through the addition of the Riverbend milling operation. This acquisition helps secure PGP International’s strong position in the short/waxy rice and rice flour blends (cake mix) markets in Japan and also provides opportunities for further product line expansion in support of our existing domestic flour business and the emerging organic rice flour business. Our intention is to expand our rice flour and blends product range by using the existing core capabilities at the rice milling facility and to add others in the future.

The former Riverbend Rice Mill will now become the PGP International Rice Milling Facility.

We look forward to Riverbend Rice Mill, Inc. being rapidly integrated into PGP International and we enthusiastically welcome all Riverbend employees into the PGP International/ABF Ingredients family.

12/07/2007 : 12 July 07 - DHW/Ohly and Provesta merge to "Ohly" - An ABF Ingredients Company

Effective July 1st, 2007, the Provesta Flavor Ingredients business units located in Hutchinson, Minnesota and Boyceville, Wisconsin will merge with the business of Deutsche Hefewerke GmbH located in Hamburg, Germany and will trade under the name of:

Ohly Americas

The strategic realignment of these complementary business units within ABF Ingredients will benefit customers by providing an enhanced focus on production, development and distribution of specialty ingredients for the savoury food and nutrition markets.

Operations will remain as previous with products continuing to be manufactured under the same specifications and at the same location.

ABF Ingredients is a division of Associated British Foods focusing on high value ingredients for food and non-food areas. Comprising of a range of ingredient companies including; AB Enzymes, ABITEC, Ohly, PGP International, Proteol and Protient.

The group have established strong market positions in cereal specialties, emulsifiers, enzymes, esters, extruded ingredients, lactose, specialty lipids, specialty powders, specialty flours, yeast extracts, whey protein concentrates and isolates and milk protein concentrates and isolates with locations worldwide.

29/05/2007 : 29 May 07 - ABF Interim Results for the 24 weeks ended 3 March 2007

ABF Interim Results for the 24 weeks ended 3 March 2007

Highlights

Adjusted operating profit up 7% to £272m*
Group revenue up 12% to £3,220m
Adjusted profit before tax up 5% to £268m **
Adjusted earnings per share level at 23.3p **
Interim dividend per share up 4% to 6.5p
Net investment in capital and acquisitions over the last year of £720m
Net debt of £350m
Basic earnings per share down 9% to 19.2p and profit before tax down 15% to £198m, reflecting increases in the charges for the amortisation of intangibles and the net loss on the sale of businesses and fixed assets

George Weston, Chief Executive of Associated British Foods, said:

“This is a good set of results. The satisfactory growth in revenue and operating profit in the first half reflects the substantial investment made by the group in capital and acquisitions last year. The advances made by Primark and sugar are the beginning of the benefits we expect from this investment and represent a significant development for these businesses.”

* before amortisation of intangibles and profits less losses on the sale of property, plant & equipment
**before amortisation of intangibles, profits less losses on the sale of property, plant & equipment and losses on the sale of businesses

All figures stated after amortisation of intangibles, profits or losses on the sale of businesses and property, plant & equipment are shown on the face of the consolidated income statement.

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or refer to the main Associated British Foods plc website:

http://www.abf.co.uk

29/05/2007 : 29 May 07 - Associated British Foods 2006 Annual Report...

Please click on link below to download a PDF version of the Associated British Foods 2006 Annual Report.

ABF Annual Report 2006

http://www.abf.co.uk