Since March 01, 2021, Uwe Keiter has been actively supporting A+F Automation + Fördertechnik GmbH, Kirchlengern, as new Vice President Sales and Business Development. He succeeds Uwe Hüsener who retires at the end of 2021. “With the help of such an internationally experienced sales expert we will be able to decisively intensify connections with our current and future customers. This will enable us to offer even better end-of-line packaging solutions for the dairy, food and beverage industries in all relevant market segments“, comments Thomas Lehmann, CEO of EOL Packaging Experts GmbH and managing director of A+F.

Uwe Keiter studied electrical engineering, specialising in automation, at Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. He successfully completed his studies with an engineering degree. After leaving university Uwe Keiter worked as a project engineer. He then changed to national and international sales of automation technology for the food industry. Uwe Keiter then went on to hold responsible positions in international key account management in the pharmaceutical, food beverage and care product segments.

His last position before joining A+F was in the development and sales of Industry 4.0 digitalisation solutions. Besides his activities in sales, Uwe Keiter has been doing voluntary work for over ten years for the non-profit organisation OMAC which addresses issues concerning standards for production companies, especially in the packaging industry. Uwe Keiter has been chairman of the OMAC Packaging Workgroup for many years.

About A+F Automation + Fördertechnik GmbH:
A+F was founded in 1974 and, as a leading supplier of end-of-line packaging machinery, enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide for its expertise in the development of high-quality packaging solutions. A+F offers integrated solutions for the dairy, food and beverage, as well as the cosmetics industries. The company develops digital solutions for the evaluation of machine and ambient data, the results of which are used to increase production output.

About EOL Packaging Experts GmbH:
EOL Packaging Experts (EOL) was founded in 2017. It is an international group of companies headquartered in Germany and offers end-of-line packaging machines and systems. Under the umbrella of the parent company EOL a strong international industrial group has been established. This group comprises the companies A+F Automation + Fördertechnik GmbH, Kirchlengern, as leading supplier of integrated and innovative system solutions for secondary and tertiary packaging, Standard- Knapp, Inc., Portland, Connecticut, as leading manufacturer of end-of-line packaging machines on the American market and BMS Maschinenfabrik GmbH, Pfatter, as leading system provider for innovative sorting systems, state-of-the-art dry part solutions and flexible repacking solutions.

Novozymes: Full-year earnings outlook maintained after early-April upgrade. Narrowed sales growth guidance following weakness in US bioethanol.

Novozymes announced its results for the first three months of 2019. All businesses developed roughly as expected except for a weaker US bioethanol industry. Organic sales growth of -4 %: Household Care -3 %, Food & Beverages -2 %, Bioenergy -8 %, Agriculture & Feed -6 %, Technical & Pharma +5 %. EBIT margin 25.7 %. Net profit 14 % lower year on-year (y/y). Free cash flow before acquisitions DKK 0.4 billion.

Peder Holk Nielsen, President & CEO: “The first – quarter decline in sales was no surprise – we communicated this back in January. We also expected US bioethanol to be down, but the decline was larger than we ha d foreseen. The flood s in the Midwest have made it tougher for our customers. With the problems continuing in to April, it will be difficult to reach the top end of the guided organic sales growth range , and we adjust our outlook to 3 – 5 %. We’ re confident sales growth will increase during the year as innovations, the freshness platform, BioAg seasonality and Bioenergy all step up, and the Middle East comparison gets easier.”

Highlights Q1 2019:

• All businesses roughly as expected except for Bioenergy. A declining US bioethanol market has been further impacted by the Midwest flooding since mid-March
• As expected, negative impact from the Middle East, feed enzymes and the planned price reductions in US baking enzymes
• Developed markets flat; 10 % organic sales decline in emerging markets, with the Middle East as the main drag
• EBIT margin soft but as expected at 25.7 %, mainly due to lower gross margin from lower sales and a planned increase in sales and distribution costs
• Net profit down 14 % y/y due to lower EBIT and hedging losses
• Free cash flow before acquisitions DKK 0.4 billion; net investments DKK 0.1 billion

2019 outlook: Organic sales growth 3 – 5 %; an expected 1 %-point added to growth in DKK. US bioethanol production in Q1 was more negative than expected, especially in the wake of flooding in the Midwest in March, continuing into April. The 3 – 5 % range reflects both strong new product performance and geopolitical uncertainty. Stronger growth in 2H vs. 1H y/y for multiple reasons. EBIT margin at 29 – 30 % supported by solid productivity gains and release of full deferred income as communicated on April 4 following the new BioAg setup. Net profit growth of 5 – 10 %. CAPEX at DKK 1.0-1.3 billion. FCF bef. acq. at DKK 2.0-2.4 billion. ROIC expected at ~24 % (~25 % excl. IFRS 16 Leases). Stock buyback program of up to DKK 2bn to be initiated April 25, 2019.

The entire earnings report can be downloaded at novozymes.com.