Yoram Knoop, CEO ForFarmers: “We look back on 2020 as a turbulent year, dominated by the outbreak of Covid-19 and its consequences. Given the circumstances, our results are more than satisfactory. In March last year, we were quick to take measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus and to secure the continuity of production and feed deliveries. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our employees, we were able to continue to provide a high level of service to our customers. As a result of the closure of the hospitality sector and the out-of-home segment our customers more or less saw a decline in demand for their products followed by a drop in the prices for their products. This also partly put pressure on our volumes and margins. It is hard to predict how long the Covid-19 measures will be sustained. This is one of the reasons, why we have taken a goodwill impairment on our Polish activities. Despite this we remain optimistic about the growth opportunities in the Polish poultry sector once the Covid measures are relaxed. We had already begun implementing efficiency measures in 2019 and have accordingly been able to reduce our cost level even further relatively quickly in 2020. We also managed our working capital well again. All together this has led to a solid contribution to our results.
Looking ahead, I have great confidence in our Build to Grow 2025 strategy despite the ongoing uncertainty. Following its launch in September last year the strategy has got off to a good start, with progress for example in terms of next-level innovation projects and of course the recent acquisitions of poultry feed company De Hoop Mengvoeders in the Netherlands in beginning 2021 and the Mühldorfer Pferdefutter equine feed brand in Germany.”