Great result HZPC, but concerns about corona

Despite the corona crisis, HZPC had a great year. Turnover increased by €14 million. More seed potatoes were also sold in the past financial year. In contrast, the company was forced to cut its dividend. For the coming year, CEO Gerard Bakcx sees more obstacles in the way. "Where the consequences of corona were limited this year, we expect them to be greater for next year."

In the 2019/2020 financial year, HZPC's turnover increased by €14 million to €364 million. The sales of seed potatoes also increased. This year, 892.000 tons of seed potatoes were sold directly or through licensees, compared to 815.000 tons last year. "A pain point this year was the attempt to implement a new ERP system. We stopped this implementation because the risk for growers turned out to be too great," says Meerten Ubbens, chairman of the supervisory board, in the annual report. As a result, the net result fell to €1,2 million.

This was particularly bad news for the shareholders, because due to the one-off write-down, the dividend payout only amounts to €1 per depositary receipt (dividend yield of 0,76%). In addition, operating costs rose, resulting in an EBITDA (result before depreciation and taxes, among other things) of €17 million. Last financial year this was €18 million.

Exciting year ahead
The trading house sees the coming year as a challenge. "The future is very uncertain. The consequences of the corona crisis were still limited in the 2019/2020 financial year, but we foresee that these will be more prominent in the coming financial year," Backx describes. HZPC expects to experience both direct and indirect consequences of the corona crisis. An example of an indirect consequence is the economic recession in the various countries where HZPC sells seed potatoes.

The company is also concerned about the lack of hard currency in several countries and the low price of ware potatoes. All in all, Backx thinks we should remain hopeful: "Let's not lose sight of the long term, this crisis will also come to an end."

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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