The Dutch animal feed giant Nutreco, which has spread its wings worldwide through subsidiaries Trouw Nutrition and Skretting, is clearly in a lesser phase. The group - owned by the Fentener van Vlissingen family via SHV - had to incur a heavy loss of tens of millions of euros in 2023. This was also the case in 2022.
Departure CEO
This leaves the unexpected departure of CEO Fulco van Lede might also explain it a little better. He indicated at the beginning of April that he was leaving for personal reasons, after having worked his way up through various positions and leading the company for three years. It is also notable that Nutreco made no acquisitions in 2023, in contrast to previous years. The solvency of 22% is at the lower end of the standard that is considered acceptable.
Looking at the figures, it seems that the upward trend has started again. In any case, operating profit showed an increase again in 2023, as did the cash flow. Nutreco also achieved a few percent volume growth in sales of livestock and fish feed, despite the fact that demand was reportedly affected by African swine fever and bird flu. In addition, Nutreco itself also indicates that market conditions were less challenging than in 2022, when many commodity markets went into turmoil.
Leading position
Nutreco indicates that cost reduction is and remains a priority. There are benefits to be made in this, especially in the logistics chain. The company states in the annual report that it will continue to strive for leading positions in the markets in which it is active. This mainly concerns animal and fish feed. Nutreco also invested in cultured meat a few years ago together with Mosa Meat.