Danish Crown: Sale of Chinese factory completed
At the end of February, Danish Crown signed a conditional agreement to sell the processing plant in Pinghu outside Shanghai. The conditions have now been met and the plant has been transferred to the new owner.
"It is a step in the right direction to get the sale in place, so that we can concentrate our efforts on other tasks in the transformation of Danish Crown. It has of course been sad to say goodbye to the employees who fought to make the factory a good business, but we had to admit that the activities in Pinghu did not fit in with the direction that we have now set for Danish Crown", says Anders Aakær Jensen, Group CFO at Danish Crown.
The factory in Pinghu outside Shanghai opened in 2019 as part of Danish Crown's ambitions to expand its business base in China. However, it has never succeeded in generating the expected earnings, even though significant efforts have been made during the period to correct the negative earnings that the company has had over the past six years.
Danish Crown's new management decided in the autumn to conduct a thorough review of the activities and opportunities for the factory in Pinghu. The conclusion of this review was that a sale or closure of the factory was the best option for Danish Crown.
"The factory has never been very important when we look at our total turnover in the Chinese market. Therefore, it is also important for me to emphasize that China remains an important export market for Danish Crown, and the sale of the factory in Pinghu will not change that", says Anders Aakær Jensen.
Danish Crown exported 2.4 billion kroner from Denmark to China in the financial year 2023/24. The sale of the factory will bring the group a double-digit million amount. The final statement is expected to be ready when the annual accounts for 2024/25 are published at the end of November.
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