NL: The Greenery achieves 4.2 million euros net result over 2015

The Greenery has achieved positive results over 2015. Revenue was up 2% to € 1.1 billion. The net result increased to € 4.2 million compared to 2.0 million euros in 2014. The restructuring of the organization and the strategy of maximum chain cooperation with retail clients, efficiency improvements and structural lowering of costs are crucial for the results. The results provide a good foundation for further growth in revenue and volume.

Results
The revenue growth has been realized at a lower volume, but higher price compared to 2014. During the year, weather conditions in other producing countries resulted in increased pressure on the price in many product groups. The EBITDA is € 24 million, a € 3 million improvement compared to 2014. Corrected for the business units which are for sale on balance sheet date or are to be shut down, the EBITDA improves by € 7 million. A significant cost saving of € 8 million has been realized. The balance sheet has been strengthened by the sales of real estate. As a result, since May 2015 the company hasn't made use of the bank loans anymore, only using accounts receivable financing and member loans. The company expects this to be sufficient in 2016 as well. The financial income and expenditure was € 7.9 million, in line with last year. The liable capital has further improved to 51%.

Prospects
In 2016, the management expects that the volume will stabilize at the 2015 level. Sales, especially for retail clients, are expected to grow further, in line with the strategy to service the end customers in the chain as much as possible.

The profitability is expected to improve further in 2016, partly as a result of further cost savings and logistic optimizations. The enterprise continues with further optimization of the supply chain. It turned out that the fully implemented SAP system provides a major competition advantage. In 2016, the expansion of the retail DC in Barendrecht will be operational, which means the import activities are also housed at that location. This will further improve efficiency. The construction of the new soft fruit DC in Breda will also be completed at the end of 2016, also leading to further efficiency. The changes in the commercial organization will also improve cooperation with the growers, which is a stepping stone to an increase in membership in the future.

In 2016, the company will continue to focus on lowering costs, further growth in volume and revenue, optimum, sustainable cooperation with retail clients in the chain, and adding value to products by means of innovation and marketing.