A Taste of Wellness for Savoury and Snacks
Givaudan
US agribusiness Bunge, part owner of the new plant-based speciality food ingredients business The Solae Company formed in April with DuPont, announced the sale of its Brazilian ingredients operations to the new company for $256 million (€226m) in cash. The closing of the Brazilian unit sale boosted Bunge's second-quarter result, released yesterday.
At the launch of the The Solae Company earlier last month, the company's creators, soybean giant Bunge and ingredients company DuPont Protein Technologies, said that their new baby was aiming to achieve annual revenues in the region of €733 million. At the time, Bunge explained that it would contribute its Brazilian ingredients operations to the joint venture, selling its majority interest in these operations to Solae.
Commenting on the sale closing, William Wells, chief financial officer of Bunge said this week : "The gain on the sale of these operations to The Solae Company - approximately $111 million, net of tax, or $1.12 per share - has improved our outlook for net income for the year. As a result, we are raising our second quarter 2003 net income guidance to be within a range of $166 million to $171 million, or $1.67 to $1.72 per share, based on 99.6 million shares outstanding."
Prior to the closing of the Brazilian unit sale, Bunge's guidance for the 2003 fiscal year was $260 million to $270 million, or $2.62 to $2.72 a share.