The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are weighing on Südzucker's business.

The executive board of Europe's largest sugar group therefore expects a "significant decline" in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and operating profit in the second quarter, Südzucker announced on Wednesday. In the same period last year, the Mannheim-based company posted EBITDA of 383 million euros and an operating profit of 310 million euros. As a result, the shares held the red lantern in the SDax and fell by a peak of 4.6 percent to their lowest level in two and a half months.

The ongoing war in Ukraine is leading to a fundamental intensification of the already high level of uncertainty on the sales and procurement markets, it was explained. The effects of the war that broke out in the Middle East in October last year are also difficult to assess. However, the Executive Board confirmed the targets for the 2024/25 financial year, which began in March. These already foresee a slump in profits due to higher production costs. EBITDA is expected to reach EUR 0.9 to 1.0 billion (previous year: EUR 1.3 billion) and the consolidated operating result EUR 500 to 600 (950) million.

(Report by Anneli Palmen, edited by Ralf Banser; if you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)).