| €000 | 2009|10 | 2008|09 |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | 737,015 | 751,086 |
| Inter-segment revenue | (52,963) | (48,583) |
| Revenue | 684,052 | 702,503 |
| Operating profit before exceptional items | 15,214 | 15,810 |
| Operating margin | 2.2 % | 2.3 % |
| Operating profit after exceptional items | 15,214 | 14,897 |
| Purchases of property, plant and equipment and intangibles 1 | 11,420 | 19,402 |
| Purchases of non-current financial assets | 537 | 862 |
| Staff count | 2,336 | 2,464 |
1 Excluding goodwill.
Revenue in the Sugar segment for the 2009|10 financial year eased by 2.6% to € 684.1 million. The key reason was the combination of the lower quota sugar sales volume and declining prices. Despite intra-year fluctuation in the export activity of industrial customers, AGRANA was able to hold constant the sales quantities of quota sugar to industry. In non-quota sugar, the volume of exports to destinations outside the European Union was increased by opening up new markets. The Sugar segment accounted for 34.4% of Group revenue (prior year: 34.7%). Consumers remained reticent in their purchasing behaviour, particularly in Eastern Europe. In the West Balkan region, market developments were additionally influenced by the rise in world market prices, which led to a decline in demand.
The segment’s operating profit in 2009|10 of € 15.2 million before exceptional items was almost level with the year-earlier figure of € 15.8 million. The lower quota sugar revenue was almost fully off set by the non-recurrence of the EU restructuring levy and the optimisation of energy procurement for the 2009 campaign. The capacity utilisation of the raw sugar refineries in Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina was below the prior-year level because of the price trends in the world market and resulting lower availability of raw sugar. The profitability of refined sugar from these facilities was restricted in the 2009|10 financial year by the higher purchasing costs and the prices achievable locally.