Danish Crown ends the first half of the 2025/26 financial year with improved competitiveness and has narrowed the competitive gap to Germany by an average of DKK 1.18/kg.
However, the half-year has been characterised by a challenging pork market, where African swine fever in Spain and supply pressure on pork in Europe have impacted Danish Crown’s earnings. At the same time, this has led to falling quotations for the owners of Danish Crown, with the current level being unsustainable.
Danish Crown ends the first half-year with operating profit (EBIT) of DKK 631 million, compared with DKK 1,325 million in the same period last year. Adjusted for a changed quotation policy — which continuously sends more money out to farms — operating profit for the first half-year was DKK 736 million in the previous financial period.
Revenue fell by 2.6 percent to DKK 31,605 million, which can be attributed to a combination of lower global market prices and a decline in the total volume sold in the first half-year.
“Improved competitiveness and better cost control confirm that we are moving in the right direction. We are meeting our expectations for the result, while the difficult market situation, characterised by supply pressure, has put pressure on our gross margin, which has fallen from 14.2% to 11.8%,” says Anders Aakær Jensen, Group CFO of Danish Crown.
“We are grateful for the great efforts made by our employees in the first half-year, which are the reason for the improved competitiveness, but we cannot be satisfied with the financial situation on farms in the first half-year,” he says.
Measured by the pig quotation and the expected supplementary payment to farmer owners, Danish Crown has narrowed some of the gap to Germany, with an overall improvement in competitiveness of DKK 468 million in the first half-year compared with the same period last year.
On the cattle side, Danish Crown has increased its lead over Germany and the Netherlands and improved competitiveness by DKK 1.97/kg — corresponding to a total of DKK 64 million for the first half-year.
“Despite strengthened competitiveness, we are fully aware that the current quotation does not ensure profitability on farms. Although Danish Crown has absorbed some of the fall in the market prices, it is an essential task to secure a better financial foundation for our farmer owners. The pressure on the pig quotation only underlines the importance of Danish Crown’s transformation into a more unified and efficient group,” says Anders Aakær Jensen.
Danish Crown has seen promising developments at the group’s German plant in Essen, and the previous sales plans and the associated provision of DKK 183 million have therefore been reversed. Overall, this means that the bottom line for the first half of 2025/26 meets expectations, with a net profit of DKK 552 million compared with an adjusted net profit of DKK 351 million in the same period last year.
At the same time, Danish Crown has reduced distribution costs by DKK 88 million and administrative costs by DKK 61 million.
Towards the end of the financial period, however, the unstable situation in the Middle East affected Danish Crown in the form of higher oil- and logistics costs as well as emerging inflation on materials.
“We are seeing unstable markets due to the geopolitical situation, and — like other large companies — we must navigate in higher transport costs, inflationary pressure and rising interest expenses in 2026. This challenges the effective cost management that is part of Danish Crown’s transformation,” says Anders Aakær Jensen.
On the cattle side, Danish Crown Beef delivered revenue of DKK 3,744 million, while EBIT landed as expected at DKK 63 million. In the first half-year, the market maintained a high price level in Europe, although with a tendency towards a slight decline towards the end of the financial period.
However, the cattle market is characterised by very strong competition for the raw material base, which is particularly under pressure in Germany.
“There is a shortage of cattle across Europe, and this has resulted in spare slaughter capacity at several abattoirs. In Germany in particular, overcapacity remains a significant challenge. At the same time, we are seeing a market that has adapted to the high consumer prices. Even though there is still demand for beef, we must acknowledge that beef is under pressure from both pork and chicken at the beginning of 2026,” says Anders Aakær Jensen.
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