Vilmorin & Cie - Annual report 2017-2018

VILMORIN & CIE CONSOLIDATES ITS COMPETITIVE POSITIONS IN MARKETS THAT ARE TEMPORARILY DIFFICULT VILMORIN & CIE POSTED SALES OF MORE THAN 1.3 BILLION EUROS (1) , AT THE CLOSE OF A FISCAL YEAR MARKED IN PARTICULAR BY TEMPORARY DIFFICULTIES ON THE VEGETABLE SEEDS MARKETS, AND STILL CHARACTERIZED BY LOW AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION PRICES. DESPITE THIS GLOOMY ENVIRONMENT, VILMORIN & CIE ENDED FISCAL YEAR 2017-2018 WITH SLIGHT GROWTH IN BUSINESS (+0.7% (2) ) AND MANAGED TO STRENGTHEN ITS COMPETITIVE POSITIONS OVERALL. • Vegetable Seeds sales are almost stable (-0.4% (2) ), after recording steady, strong growth in recent years. This is directly related to tough vegetable seeds markets throughout the fiscal year. In this context, Vilmorin & Cie has managed to gain market share and make significant progress in Asia and South America. Vilmorin & Cie thus confirms its solid position as world leader and reaffirms, in markets whose fundamentals are in no way altered for the medium term, its confidence in its growth momentum over the coming years. • Field Seeds recorded a significant increase in activity of more than 2% (2) in a still difficult market environment. This very good performance is particularly strong in Europe, where Vilmorin & Cie is gaining market share in corn, sunflower and rapeseed. In the other development areas, activity was down, but had experienced extremely strong growth in 2016-2017. Nevertheless, Vilmorin & Cie strengthened its positions in corn in Brazil. As a result, and given less dynamic activity than expected, total net income declined significantly to 76.9 million euros. Beyond the specific difficulties that impacted the fiscal year, Vilmorin & Cie reaffirms its strategic priorities: • In Vegetable Seeds, Vilmorin & Cie aims to establish itself as the world leader; beyond the consolidation of positions in the most mature markets, this will require strong development in Asia and, in the longer term, in Africa. • In Field Seeds, Vilmorin & Cie intends to position itself as a global player, with a worldwide dimension for its two strategic crops, corn and wheat. Vilmorin & Cie’s ability to continue to forge strategic alliances and partnerships, in particular to complement the range of technologies at its disposal, will be key, as will the acquisition of market share in its most recent development territories: South America, Asia and Africa. To achieve its ambitions, in a competitive environment whose restructuring is nearing completion, Vilmorin & Cie will continue to rely with conviction on its specific development model: a single core business of seeds, very close proximity to its customers, in particular through its organization into Business Units and a long-term vision of its development. On the strength of this approach and its assets, Vilmorin & Cie is fully confident in its ability to return to its growth trajectory by 2018-2019 and to offer resilient and sustainable development prospects. In market environments that are still very volatile, we can rely more than ever on the commitment and skills of our teams, the constant support of Limagrain, our reference shareholder, as well as our loyal Shareholders, committed to the long- term. To thank you for your loyalty, on top of the dividends, Vilmorin & Cie will allocate free shares (3) during fiscal year 2018-2019. Vilmorin & Cie’s Board of Directors Dear Shareholders, (1) Integrating 50% of the activity of AgReliant (North America. Field Seeds), sales for 2017-2018 came to more than 1.6 billion euros. (2) On a like-for-like basis. (3) Subject to the approval of the resolution concerned to be presented to the General Meeting of December 7, 2018.