As an Austrian industrial group with an international focus, AGRANA operates globally in its Food & Beverage Solutions business and mainly in Central and Eastern Europe in its Agricultural Commodities & Specialities activities. In these markets, AGRANA seeks to achieve or maintain a leading position in the industrial processing and refining of agricultural raw materials. The Group's value creation extends from being a pure raw material processor at the primary processing stage all the way to providing solutions and complex formulations for the world’s leading brand manufacturers. Long-lasting, stable customer and supplier relationships, respectful treatment of all stakeholders and continual growth in the company’s value are major cornerstones of the corporate strategy, which is guided by the principles of sustainable management. AGRANA aims to provide both its globally operating and its regional customers worldwide with high product quality, optimum service and innovative product development ideas and expertise.
The past several years have seen a highly challenging economic environment for the food industry and thus for AGRANA as well, with the broader landscape marked by multiple crises, disrupted supply chains, and rapid inflation in input costs for energy and raw materials. The high proportion of commodity business, mainly concentrated in Central and Eastern Europe, coupled with a rigid divisional structure, has severely tested the company’s resilience, especially in times of crisis. For this very reason, the NEXT LEVEL strategy developed by the management has set a new course and established two overarching business areas – Agricultural Commodities & Specialities and Food & Beverage Solutions – that are directed by a strategic holding company. After the adoption of the strategy by the Supervisory Board in November 2024, the focus in the 2025|26 financial year was on implementing the initial wave of key strategic elements.
The name of the strategic initiative, NEXT LEVEL, signals its nature as the logical next step in AGRANA's development, one which addresses today’s changed market conditions and the challenges of tomorrow. The Group’s holding company is given new tasks and, as a strategic holding company, is taking on a new kind of responsibility. It will guide and drive the Group’s strategic development in coordination with the operating units and assume direct operational responsibility for specific functions such as finance, human resources, IT and technical procurement. Other holding functions focus on best-practice sharing and operational excellence, and support the business segments through lean and efficient structures designed to add value.
The AGRANA Group possesses deep expertise in the procurement and processing of agricultural raw materials and in organising complex supply chains. At the same time, it has a track record of more than two decades of developing highly tailored product solutions and formulations in close collaboration with customers. In the original Group structure, each segment combined both components of this divergent business typology: the processing of raw materials and sale of commodities and refined specialities on the one hand, and innovative collaboration with customers for unique solutions on the other. Over the years, the diversified structure of three business segments, the global market presence and the breadth of the value chain have shielded the Group from excessive risks. However, the structure was no longer adequate in terms of efficiency. The right combination and pooling of the segments’ respective value-creation stages into two overarching business areas, focusing respectively on Agricultural Commodities & Specialities and Food & Beverage Solutions, was now seen as the correct strategic response.
In the Agricultural Commodities & Specialities business area, the management focus is on raw material procurement, optimised supply chains and the ongoing improvement of processes and technologies. The finished products are subject to clear, generally applicable specifications and market practices. Competitiveness is determined by price and cost factors. The speciality products, as a separate category within this business area, are high-specification or highly refined products developed for specific target markets. As a rule, AGRANA here is one of only a very few vendors, such as manufacturers of speciality starches used in foods or in the construction or cosmetics industries.
In the second business area, Food & Beverage Solutions, the emphasis is on close collaboration with customers. This part of the business represents the secondary processing stage, where value is added through innovation and the ability to solve complex customer challenges, such as in the dairy, food service, ice cream, beverage base and flavour (aroma) businesses. The complete solutions offered in these businesses usually consist of multiple components, with product specifications defined jointly in direct collaboration between the customer and AGRANA. A closer cooperation between AGRANA Fruit and AUSTRIA JUICE in the use of in-house flavours and their mutual support in rolling these out to global markets offers considerable synergies for both companies. By bringing together complementary parts of the Group in the greater business areas, their differential market access and different internal and organisational objectives are combined for synergistic gains.
A phased combination of the commodity and specialities business of AGRANA Sugar with that of AGRANA Starch by merging almost their entire organisations responsible for administration, raw material procurement and logistics is to make operations much more efficient and cost-effective in the future.
Strategic goal: Customer- and market-oriented global growth. In the FBS business area, AGRANA is a supplier and solution provider to the dairy, ice cream, food service, beverage and other industries, with products ranging from fruit preparations, brown flavours, and aromas all the way to beverage bases and fruit juice concentrates.
AGRANA wants to consolidate and strengthen its global market position through organic growth and via acquisitions and cooperative new ventures. In the 2025|26 financial year, AGRANA made two significant investments in the FBS business area: In October 2025, AGRANA acquired the remaining 49.99% of the shares of AUSTRIA JUICE GmbH from RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG, Korneuburg, Austria. The acquisition of full ownership underscores the potential which AUSTRIA JUICE holds for AGRANA, especially in the growing flavour business and also in beverage bases and speciality products. In addition, AGRANA decided to purchase the Slovenian food manufacturer Mercator-Emba d.o.o., a company active in the growing food service sector among other markets. Through this acquisition, which received antitrust approval at the end of March 2026, AGRANA will expand business in Europe and tap new customer segments.
Strategic goals: Organic (non-acquisitive) growth and the creation of value-added through application-specific products. In the ACS – Starch segment, AGRANA focuses on highly refined speciality products. Innovative, customer-driven products supported by application advice and continuous product development, combined with cost optimisation, are the key to the segment’s success. An example is the leading position in organic starches and GMO-free1 starches for the food industry. As well, in the non-food sector, the Group is a leading supplier of speciality starches for the paper, textile, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and building materials industries.
AGRANA’s essential core competency – the large-scale processing of agricultural raw materials into industrial products – is also the basis for the bioethanol business. In Austria, AGRANA is the leading vendor of this climate-friendly fuel thanks to its bioethanol plant in Pischelsdorf. In bioethanol production, AGRANA successfully realises its goal of completely utilising the agricultural raw materials employed, thus enhancing their value-added through the optimal use of all residual components by processing them into co-products.
1 GMO-free or GM-free: Not derived from genetically modified organisms.
Strategic goals: Focus on core markets, cost reduction and optimisation of the footprint to ensure competitiveness for the long term. In the once again challenging 2025|26 financial year, the focus was on the competitiveness of the ACS – Sugar segment and the redimensioning of its production capacity. In March 2025, AGRANA closed two sugar factories – one in Leopoldsdorf, Austria, and one in Hrušovany, Czech Republic. This decision was difficult, but necessary to safeguard the future of the sugar business. Due to the very challenging market environment – with low sales prices since the market liberalisation, rising costs and a decline in sugar consumption – production capacity had to be consolidated. In addition to the plant closures, the ACS – Sugar segment engaged in extensive cost reductions to mitigate the negative earnings result, focusing on production, raw material procurement and supply chain management.
The financial year ahead – 2026|27 – will probably also be difficult, and the management's goal is to further raise efficiency without compromising quality. Operational excellence will be key to this in driving the continuous improvement of the plants. As well, the target operating model is being further honed to avoid functional overlaps and establish a market-aligned and cost-efficient organisational culture.
Implementation of the new structure began in November 2024, following its approval by the Supervisory Board. The first step was to initiate the transformation of the holding company into a strategic holding company by centralising the finance, human resources, IT and technical procurement functions. The new strategic holding company focuses on uniform, efficient processes and the streamlining of redundancies. Another core priority in the financial year remained the optimisation of working capital.
The focus in the Agricultural Commodities & Specialities business area was on optimising processes and realising cost savings. The organisational structure was rearranged, combining selected functions to raise synergies between the ACS – Sugar and ACS – Starch segments. As well, a centralised “operational excellence” function was added to optimise production through continuous improvement of work processes and reduce costs.
Given the continued difficult market situation in the commodity business, AGRANA raised the savings target for its Horizon cost reduction initiative from € 80 million to € 130 million (cumulative savings compared with the 2023|24 financial year as the baseline) and lengthened the period for target achievement by one year to include 2028|29. Through rigorous optimisation measures, particularly in the ACS business area, the Group already saved approximately € 80 million in the 2025|26 financial year alone. These savings resulted primarily from cost reductions for materials, logistics, raw materials, services and personnel. To ensure the cost effects will be long-lived, an implementation maturity grading system was used to closely track the execution of the measures and systematically assess their effectiveness.
In addition to the structural transformation at the holding company and divisional level, sustainability remains an integral part of the NEXT LEVEL strategy. AGRANA consistently pursues the goal of achieving net-zero emissions in Scope 1 and 2 by 2040 and in Scope 3 by no later than 2050. This commitment is not only an expression of the Group’s social responsibility but also a strategic necessity in order to ensure competitiveness in the long term. To achieve these climate targets, AGRANA invests in sustainable technologies and in ways to increase energy efficiency. The Group is also strategically intensifying the collaboration with suppliers and customers in long-term partnerships to jointly develop and advance business models resilient to climate change.
Sustainability to AGRANA means the balanced consideration of environmental, economic and social aspects within the Group and in its value chain. In its business activities, AGRANA is committed to making the part of the value chain that it can influence as sustainable as possible. The Group has been actively engaged for many years in sustainable raw material sourcing through the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI) and the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) developed by the SAI. In the ACS – Starch and ACS – Sugar segments, 100% of the agricultural raw materials purchased from contract farmers come from FSA- or equivalent-validated sources. AGRANA is also working to preserve and improve biodiversity for sustainable and productive agriculture. By utilising almost 100% of the agricultural raw materials employed and using low-emission technologies in industrial processing, negative impacts on the environment are mitigated or avoided.
Employees are central to AGRANA's sustainability efforts. Recognising and supporting its people not only contributes to the Group’s long-term competitiveness but also reflects its social responsibility. A safe and healthy work environment is essential for the well-being, productivity and long-term retention of employees. The protection of AGRANA’s people is fundamental to the corporate strategy, with goals such as reducing the injury rate on a sustained basis. Compliance with labour rights, human rights and social standards is a top priority – both at the Group’s own sites and throughout its supply chain. AGRANA also actively promotes greater representation of women in management positions. A strong corporate culture and high ethical standards are key pillars of AGRANA’s corporate philosophy.
This sustainability strategy forms the basis for the Group’s long-term positive development, in which economic, environmental and social goals are in balance for the benefit of AGRANA and its stakeholders.
| AGRANA share data | 2025|26 | 2024|25 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closing price at 28/29 Feb year-end | € | 11.75 | 10.55 |
| High | € | 13.45 | 14.25 |
| Low | € | 10.30 | 10.20 |
| (Loss) per share | € | (0.64) | (0.07) |
| Closing price/earnings ratio at year-end | Neg. | Neg. | |
| Closing book value per share at year-end | € | 16.94 | 18.62 |
| Number of shares at year-end | ’000 | 62,489.0 | 62,489.0 |
| Closing market capitalisation at year-end | €m | 734.2 | 659.3 |
| ISIN CODE AT000AGRANA3 | Exchange/ market segmentVSE/Prime Market | Type of security Ordinary shares | Number of shares 62,488,976 |
| Reuters Code AGRV.VI | Bloomberg Code AGR:AV | Ticker symbol AGR |
The 2025 calendar year in global stock markets was characterised by positive equity returns, although with significant regional differences. European shares were particularly strong, outperforming both global averages and the main US indices. Political factors played a key role: In Europe, elections, changes of government, fiscal policy direction and EU regulation supported investor sentiment. US trade policy, protectionist measures and global geopolitical tensions, including in the Middle East, periodically increased risk aversion. Differences in monetary and fiscal policy between the major economic regions, as well as exchange rate movements (e.g., a weaker US dollar), heightened the relative outperformance of European markets. Overall in 2025, equity market performance reflected the close interplay of economic strength and political factors, as Europe benefited from a cyclical recovery, robust corporate earnings and a stable regulatory environment, against a backdrop of elevated volatility due to global political uncertainty.
In the period from 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026 (the financial year), AGRANA's share price rose by 11.4%. The share performance was shaped by operational challenges in the ACS – Sugar and ACS – Starch segments, structural adjustments within the Group and volatile sales prices and raw material costs, as well as upside effects from strategic acquisitions, broad dividend stability and an upward revision of the EBIT forecast in the course of the year. On balance, the share price trajectory signalled cautiously improving investor confidence in the Group's operating recovery and strategic direction. AGRANA’s average trading volume1 on the Vienna Stock Exchange decreased to about 20,000 shares per day (previous year: approximately 30,700 shares per day).
The market capitalisation at the end of February 2026, with 62,488,976 shares outstanding, was € 734.2 million (previous year: € 659.3 million).
1 Trading volume based on double counting, as published by the Vienna Stock Exchange.
AGRANA is committed to a predictable, reliable and transparent dividend policy focused on continuity. The distributions are based not only on the Group’s earnings, but also on its cash flow and its debt situation, with consideration given to the need to maintain a sound balance sheet structure. For the financial year under review, the Management Board will therefore propose to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on 3 July 2026 to pay a dividend of € 0.35 per share, representing a dividend yield of 3.0% based on the share price of € 11.75 at the end of February 2026 (previous year: 6.6%). The dividend payment date is 13 July 2026.
| 2025|26 | 2024|25 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend per share | € | 0.351 | 0.70 |
| (Loss) per share | € | (0.64) | (0.07) |
| Dividend payout ratio | % | Neg.1 | Neg. |
| Dividend yield2 | % | 3.01 | 6.6 |
1 Dividend proposal to the Annual General Meeting.
2 Based on the closing share price at the balance sheet date.
AGRANA has a very longstanding, stable principal shareholder in AGRANA Zucker, Stärke und Frucht Holding AG (“AZSF”), Vienna, in which Zucker-Beteiligungsgesellschaft m.b.H. (“ZBG”), Vienna, and Südzucker AG (“Südzucker”), Mannheim, Germany, are in turn shareholders. Under a syndicate agreement between Südzucker and ZBG, the partners in the syndicate have mutual rights to appoint members to the management board and supervisory board of AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG and Südzucker AG.
In the 2025|26 financial year there was no material change in shareholder structure. To AGRANA’s knowledge, retail investors hold a significant proportion of the free float. Details on the shareholder structure are presented in the section “Capital, shares, voting rights and rights of control” in the full version of the annual report 2024|25.
1 Directly held.
