Hamlet Protein reports strong growth, flags young animal nutrition market as buoyant

25-May-2021 - Last updated on 25-May-2021 at 16:13 GMT

Hamlet Protein, the Denmark headquartered producer of soy-based specialty ingredients for young animals, has reported increased volumes across all regions, coupled with an optimized cost structure, resulting in a significant EBITDA hike versus prior year.

The company just released its annual report for 2020.

New financing agreements increased the company’s liquidity and provided Hamlet Protein flexibility to pursue further growth, said the CEO, Erik Visser, who was appointed mid-2019 to lead a restructuring of the company and review of its strategy.

“We refinanced our debt with Nordea. The new financing agreements were tailored to the needs of Hamlet’s strategy plan and provide significantly increased liquidity. Furthermore, they resulted in reduced interest expenses, an extended maturity of the loan facilities, and added flexibility on the financial covenants,” he told us.

Cost levels were aligned with business size, a hands-on management team was appointed and a more customer focused approach to the business was introduced, said the CEO.

Hamlet Protein’s 2020 recurring EBITDA increased by 42% compared with 2019. It said this jump was driven by a volume growth of 19% versus prior year and improved cost management. APAC, which saw China recovering from African Swine Fever (ASF), was the main contributor, with a 58% volume increase.

“COVID-19 and ASF provided challenging market conditions in 2020. Even though the market demand for animal protein proved to be resilient, we saw different effects across the many markets we serve. Having invested in local resources in our most important export markets, we were well positioned to address changing conditions. And with the right COVID-19 measures in place we were able to secure an uninterrupted supply to our customers,” said Visser.

He said the market for young animal nutrition continues to grow.

“In 2021, additional production capacity in our US plant will become available; our remodeled headquarters is set to open in Denmark and two new products, one targeting swine and the other poultry, will be launched,” concluded Visser.

Swine is still the dominant segment in the US for the Danish company, but the poultry segment is gaining traction in that market, he said.

Hamlet Protein has two production plants, one in Denmark and the other in the US.