Year ended 30 September 2002.
During 2002, the Group's operations delivered another satisfactory performance with a very high investment programme both in IT and equipment across the Group to meet the increasing globalisation of our customers' needs, in particular the Group's investment (of US$6.3 million) in the USA referred to below. Margins are under pressure in some areas of the business.
During the last two years, there has been considerable consolidation amongst our customers in our sector. We expect this consolidation to continue as there are very few medium-sized companies with turnovers between US$75m - US$150m remaining in our industry. The tenth largest company is estimated to have sales of US$200 million, which gives the top ten customers a total sales value of approximately US$8 billion. This consolidation of our customer base has generally led to increased opportunities as the major Flavour and Fragrance companies wish to work closer with global ingredients suppliers. The Group's customer base has enlarged from 620 customers in 45 countries in 1989 to 1200 in over 80 countries in 2002.
Trading
Orange oil movement
The last 12 months saw orange oil rise in price from US$1.30/kilo to over
US$3.00/kilo. This material is an important raw material for the Group and the
price increase in our orange products increased turnover. One-off 'stock
profits' were earned, and new significant business was won in part due to our
orange oil position and it is expected that some of this will be retained in
future years.
R.C. Treatt
Sales were up by 7 percent with volumes up by 6 percent as significantly
increased orange oil prices led to some one-off sales and some stock profits.
Aroma chemical sales increased by 6 percent but with lower margins. Some major
customers' purchasing patterns were irregular, in part due to their operational
difficulties. Demand from customers for shorter lead times continued to
increase.
Treatt USA (formerly Florida Treatt)
Sales increased by 27 percent during the year, with new business being won,
in particular in our TreattaromeTM range, and we remain optimistic
for these for the future. Our investment in this product line has proved to be
worthwhile and has reduced our exposure in the USA to the volatility of the
citrus market.
Singapore Treatt
The branch sales office was closed in December 2001 but we have continued to
increase business satisfactorily directly from England and have strengthened our
sales presence in China.
Investment for the future
R.C. Treatt
Our ERP system has been operational in Florida since 1 October 2002, as
scheduled, and should be fully implemented across the Group over the next two
years. The Enterprise Resource Planning "ERP" system is a Group-wide IT system
designed to run a manufacturing business. This will supersede our fully
operational CRM system in the UK, which we have decided to write off as a
non-cash item of £591,000 in the current year, which has been taken as an
exceptional charge. We believe the investments made in 2002 and to be made in
2003 are necessary to deliver the long-term growth of the business.
Treatt USA
Treatt USA has moved to its new site on budget and on time, with the move
being made at the end of September 2002. This new site gives considerably
increased production capabilities whilst meeting with customers' strict
production standards. The name of our USA subsidiary has been changed to Treatt
USA to better represent the Group's activities in the North American market. The
word "Florida" in the former name had strong citrus associations rather than
representing the wider palate of flavour and fragrance ingredients that Treatt
offers. The original site at Haines City is now for sale.
Research and Development
The Group remains committed to the development of new products, both for
flavour and fragrance useage, which are launched on a regular basis throughout
the year. We have strengthened not only our R & D facilities, but also our
technical personnel, both in the USA and in the UK. R & D is also undertaken by
Treatt in producing countries to develop new economically viable sources of raw
materials. Investment in research and development in 2002 remained at a similar
level to last year.
Markets
Sales in the UK increased by 6 percent, due in part to increased orange oil prices. In the rest of Europe sales were up 8 percent with gains being made in several countries. In the Americas sales were up 16 percent, which was due to another good performance at Treatt USA especially as this includes Latin America where, as expected, sales decreased by 8 percent over last year, as a result of the severe economic downturn in the region. Sales to the rest of the world grew at 13 percent.
Products
Orange oil, an orange juice by-product, is an important raw material for
Treatt and has remained at a price level higher than expected. Orange products
accounted for 19 percent of the Group's turnover in 2002. For R. C. Treatt in
the UK, the majority of orange oil is sourced from Brazil and the balance from
Florida, USA. The price of Orange oil is unusually firm for this time of year,
as it normally weakens as Florida's new crop approaches, and this will increase
the Group's turnover in orange oil products. Sales from our UK based aroma
chemical distribution business grew by 6 percent at lower margins, and there was
continued strong growth in our high impact flavour and fragrance molecules.
Sales of general commodity chemicals continued to grow, but margins continue to
be under pressure.
Sales of the TreattaromeTM range of natural distillates, which
are manufactured by Treatt USA in Florida, doubled. This increase was across the
full TreattaromeTM range and we have been advised by many of our
customers that they have used them in new submissions to their end consumers.
Our optimism for the future of these products is undiminished.
Raw Materials
With the exception of orange oil, as forecast last year, 2002 again saw many
of the Group's raw materials, and therefore products, remain at historically low
price levels. We expect this to continue with orange oil remaining an exception.