| (In million €) | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 vs 2020 |
| EBITDA | 356 | 243 | +46% |
| Revenue | 6 854 | 5 766 | +19% |
| Net income, Group share | 150 | 59 | +155% |
| Capital expenditures (CAPEX) | 168 | 130 | +29,2% |
| Investments in the agricultural sector | 69 | 125 |
SATISFACTORY FINANCIAL RESULTS DESPITE A GLOBAL CONTEXT DISRUPTED BY THE HEALTH CRISIS AND TIGHT COMMODITY MARKETS
In spite of an extremely inflationary global context affecting raw material prices, Avril delivered a solid financial performance in 2021. Once again this year, the complementary nature of our activities and business lines, both industrial and financial, proved the relevance of our model and strategy.For the fourth year running, the Group exceeded the objectives of its strategic plan. In 2021, EBITDA(1) amounted to €356 million, representing an increase of +46%. Revenue came in at €6.9 billion, a gain of 19%, due in particular to the impact of higher raw material prices.
Finally, net income, Group share, amounted to €150 million. It increased by 155%, thanks in particular to the rise in EBITDA and the capital gains realized in 2021.
SOFIPROTEOL CONTINUES ITS EFFORTS TO SERVE THE FRENCH AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
In 2021, Avril's investment and development business unit, Sofiprotéol, maintained its dynamic support for the agricultural and food sectors with €69 million invested. In line with its objectives, these investments are in keeping with the Group's priorities, positioning Sofiprotéol as a support for the French animal and plant sectors, upstream as well as downstream. These orientations have taken the form of minority shareholdings or equity financing in the companies Cosucra, Delin, Eureden, Limagrain, LSDH, and Solina.
Moreover, in line with Avril's purpose of Serving the Earth, and its commitment towards achieving a positive impact of its investments, Sofiprotéol now integrates CSR criteria(2) , above and beyond financial criteria. This is the case, for example, with the transaction carried out at Cosucra, one of the European leaders in processing pea protein for human consumption. The bond loan was thus indexed to criteria relating to water management, local sourcing, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and safety performance.
In 2021, Avril's financial division posted an EBITDA of €26.6 million.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES SHOWING HIGHLY CONTRASTED PERFORMANCES
In 2021, the Group refocused its strategy around four priority markets. This was fully in line with its ambition to establish Avril as the leader in plant processing for the food, agricultural, and environmental transitions. Within this context, the industrial activities' contribution to the Group's results showed a very strong increase. EBITDA doubled to reach €321.1 million, driven by the food processing industry and specialty activities.
During a year impacted by the global health crisis and steadily rising raw material prices, the contribution of the industrial activities was once again highly disparate. This was largely attributable to the varying ability of the business units to pass on the increases in raw material prices to their clients.
In accordance with the business reorganization plan finalized in the last quarter of 2021, the results of our industrial activities, detailed below, are presented according to sector:
- Oilseed Processing & Renewable Energies;
- Specialty areas;
- Consumer Goods;
- Solutions for Agriculture.
Within the Oilseed Processing & Renewable Energies sector, which includes the long-standing seed crushing operations as well as the production of oilseed meal, refined oils, and biofuels, the Group recorded an exceptional performance. EBITDA amounted to €171 million.
Saipol was thus able to take advantage of the favorable trend in the raw material market with high sales prices for its oils, oilseed meals, and biofuels. It thereby confirmed its sound strategy for hedging its raw material purchases and the relevance of the strategic plan, refocused since 2019 on the production of high value-added products, in particular low GHG biofuels. As a result, through its OleoZE platform, Saipol collected 250,000 tons of sustainable seeds in 2021 for the sale of low-carbon energy compared to 80,000 tons in 2020. This enabled French farmers to enjoy, on average, a remuneration bonus of €23 per ton of seeds sold. At the same time, Oleo100, a B100 fuel produced from French rapeseed, continued to expand. They now have more than 450 professional transport clients, compared with 186 at the end of 2020, thus contributing effectively to the decarbonization of road transport.
These same global market trends and favorable arbitrages on raw material exposures also explain the solid performance of Expur, our Romanian business unit.
Within the Specialties area, bringing together activities dedicated to producing specialty ingredients for European and global industry including Oleon, Kerfoot, Novastell, and Lecico, 2021 was the year of renewed growth. €95.7 million was generated in EBITDA, after a very down year in 2020 due to the economic slump caused by the health crisis.
This fine performance was fueled by the success of Oleon, the European leader in oleochemicals, benefiting fully from the economic recovery in Europe. The strong increase in demand within the industry underpinned a high level of activity throughout the year. This testifies to the acceptance of plant-based alternatives by both industry and consumers.
Consumer Goods), combining the activities of our business units in France with Lesieur and internationally with Lesieur Cristal in Morocco, GECO in Algeria, Costa d'Oro in Italy, and Expur in Romania, has once again proved its resilience, bringing together activities dedicated to FMCG products such as table oils, condiments, soaps, and hygiene products. In an economic environment subject to strain due to the health crisis, volatility of raw material, and pressure on prices and purchasing power, this reduced the impact on its profitability with an EBITDA down 17% to €52.3 million.
In France, Lesieur was significantly affected by the impact of the rise in raw material prices, particularly in the second half of the year, especially for olive oil. The gradual recovery of the out-of-home dining sector, which had hitherto been heavily penalized by the health crisis, and of wholesale distribution to manufacturers enabled these increases to be partially offset.
In Morocco, against a background of falling purchasing power, Lesieur Cristal is holding up well thanks to the introduction of targeted price increases and well-hedged positions on raw material. At the same time, the company continued to expand in Africa, following the reorganization of Avril's African assets announced in January 2021. In Senegal, together with its Oleosen business unit, it completed the construction of a new soap factory in Dakar to supply the local market and other countries in the region.
Finally, in Italy, Costa d'Oro was severely penalized by the rise in olive oil prices, increased competition, and a decline in consumption on the Italian market. These difficulties could not be mitigated by increasing exports, hindered by the public health situation.
Finally, within the Solutions for Agriculture Division, which now brings together activities dedicated to the agricultural world, in particular French livestock farmers, with our business units Sanders (animal nutrition), MiXscience (animal specialties), Terrial (fertilizers), and Feed Alliance (raw material purchasing), performance was down sharply, with an EBITDA of €13 million (-57%), confirming the difficulties of the livestock sector.
As the French leader in animal nutrition, Sanders was deeply affected by the surge in raw material prices and by the inability to pass on all of these increases to its partner livestock farmers. It was already vulnerable to precarious economic situations and for whom the multiplication of epizootic diseases significantly aggravated the difficulties.
MiXscience, a producer of animal specialties for livestock feed, managed to limit losses thanks to its development in Africa, as well as to its solid sales performance. However, restrictions on raw material supplies, trade constraints linked to Covid19, and unfavorable weather conditions penalized the business, in particular that of its Brazilian business unit, Salus.
Terrial, the French leader in organic fertilization, successfully adapted its commercial strategy in order to preserve its margins in the face of the pressure on raw material.
Finally the Egg business (packaging and manufacture of egg products), which is still in the process of being sold, once again sharply widened its losses in a national market in transition, experiencing difficulties in the face of rising animal feed costs.
In the Pork business, Abera and Porcgros, sold on January 1, 2022, performed well in 2021.
Our incubator, Avril Development, bringing together high-potential activities, maintained its growth momentum.
Evertree, a bio source adhesive solutions specialist, stepped up its development with the marketing of the world's first bio-sourced wood composite panel, in collaboration with Panneaux de Corrèze.
In Dieppe, Prolein, jointly owned by Avril and BPI, completed the construction of its industrial unit devoted to transforming rapeseed into protein-rich oilseed meal. Production tests were initiated for a launch in 2022 of the production of the protein isolate by Olatein, a company jointly owned by Avril and the Dutch group, DSM.
A SOLID FINANCIAL STRUCTURE
Avril rests on solid fundamentals with a net debt to EBITDA ratio of x1.23. This is improving, despite an increase in gearing, due to the significant impact of the Group's working capital requirements resulting from the increase in raw material prices: +€333 million in 2021.
Shareholders' equity increased from €1.71 billion to €1.87 billion.
Finally, capital expenditure amounted to €168 million, representing an increase of +29.2% compared to 2020. Financial investments reached €69 million related to Sofiprotéol's minority shareholdings in companies in the agricultural and food sector. In 2021, total investments amounted to €237 million.
EXTRA-FINANCIAL RESULTS IN LINE WITH OUR OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSE
In 2021, Avril announced its purpose, Serving the Earth. This is the purpose of the Group's 7,348 employees, embodied in the six commitments that, for nearly a year now, have been driving the organization to be in a position to propose new solutions for the future:
- Taking action for agriculture that respects the planet;
- Taking action to protect natural resources and biodiversity;
- Taking action to develop local sectors;
- Taking action for our investments' impact;
- Taking action for the climate;
- Taking action for a collective and inclusive project.
2022 OUTLOOK: AVRIL CONFIRMS THE RELEVANCE OF ITS AGRICULTURAL MODEL, IN LINE WITH ITS 2030 AMBITIONS
In line with its purpose, Serving the Earth, and its new strategic orientations, Avril is accelerating its growth dynamic in its four priority markets this year, with a view towards becoming the leader in plant processing for the agricultural, food, and environmental transitions.
A GROWTH DYNAMIC WELL UNDERWAY
In January 2022, the Group confirmed the acquisition, through its Feed Alliance business unit, of Solteam, one of France's leading importers of non-GMO soya, traced and guaranteed "deforestation-free". Once confirmed by the French Competition Authority, this investment will be instrumental in achieving our goal of obtaining 100% of our soya and palm oil supplies from sustainable sources by 2030. This will also enable the French agricultural sector to better respond to new consumer expectations.More recently, Terrial, a subsidiary of Avril and Suez, acquired Amendis, enabling it to consolidate its position in the organic fertilization market, through the development of a wider range of organic fertilizer products.
In the Consumer Goods sector, at the end of December, the Group announced having entered into exclusive negotiations with the InVivo Group for the purchase of Soufflet Alimentaire's activities, in order to strengthen its positions in the vegetable protein food market, an important growth driver for the Group's future. Discussions between the two long-standing partners are progressing at a good pace, with the objective of concluding them prior to the end of the first half of 2022.
More recently, the Group acquired a stake in the start-up Eccellenza Italiana, which owns the Italians Do It Better brand. Acquiring this majority stake is fully in line with Avril's ambition to strengthen its positions in the Consumer Goods sector, with local brands recognized for the quality of their products and their artisanal know-how.
REAFFIRMING THE MODEL AND LONG-TERM GROWTH
DESPITE AN UNCERTAIN GLOBAL CONTEXT
This growth dynamic will continue in 2022 and beyond, despite the difficult global economic and geopolitical context. Indeed, the crisis in Ukraine heightened the already high tensions on world markets, from energy to agricultural raw materials. The war is driving up costs for all economic players, and requiring manufacturers to transfer these increases on to their end clients.
These additional costs have become unbearable for French livestock farmers, who are increasingly giving up in the face of the successive difficulties they face, especially raw material prices and epizootic diseases. All this impacts the agricultural world's capacity to produce enough to feed the population and reinforce our food and energy sovereignty.
Against this backdrop, and because value sharing is at the heart of its redistribution model for the industry, Avril is committed to showing its support for French livestock farmers. Starting July 1, 2022, the Group, through its Sanders business unit, will offer exceptional aid of up to €6 million. This will be aimed at supporting the installation of new livestock farmers, the transfer of farms, supporting the modernization and sustainability of farms, and finally, optimizing access to protein in animal nutrition.
In addition, in keeping with its mission of creating value within the sector and upstream agriculture, Avril is considering new industrial developments. Together with its Saipol business unit, the Group aims to increase its sunflower seed crushing capacity in France. The aim is to become more independent in terms of sunflower oil and oilseed meal, as well as for its clients. In the processing of more than one million tons of sunflower seeds, over 50% of the French agricultural production of sunflower would be valorized by the Group. This project would also contribute to the expansion of this crop, which is expected to increase in surface area by 900,000 hectares or 30% compared to 2021.
For Jean-Philippe Puig, CEO of Avril: "2021 was an historic year for the Group, and I would like to congratulate first and foremost the men and women of Avril who, thanks to their daily efforts and their commitment, successfully maintained and developed our activities, under often difficult conditions. This is their success! I would also like to thank our farmer partners who placed their trust in us for nearly 40 years to innovate, develop new outlets, and create value for the entire French vegetable oil and protein sector. Despite the uncertain economic climate, I am confident in our ability to successfully deliver on our ambition. This is our mission, our purpose, and our motivation to act, every day, towards Serving the Earth."
1 EBITDA is the equivalent of gross operating profit for accounting purposes in France. EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization
2 Corporate Social Responsibility