AMSTERDAM — Corbion is looking at expanding in botanicals such as rosemary extracts to further bolster its natural preservation portfolio, which was already a highlight in the 2025 fiscal year, said Olivier Rigaud, chief executive officer.
During a Feb. 26 earnings call to discuss financial results, Rigaud said Corbion sources rosemary extracts with strategic partners to build solutions between rosemary and, for instance, Corbion’s vinegars.
“We would really also like to add this technology of botanical extraction to our portfolio because we speak about rosemary as a big one, but you see also you have a lot of polyphenols coming from a grape or green tea that are a strong antioxidant or ascorbic acid that is also a vitamin, natural vitamin C coming from acerola berry,” he said.
EBITDA in fiscal 2025 was €204.5 million ($241 million), down from €369.5 million in the previous fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDA, however, was €204.3 million, up 17% from €187.7 million. On April 2, 2024, Corbion announced that it had completed the divestiture of an emulsifier business to Kingswood Capital Management for a cash purchase price of $362 million.
Fiscal-year sales fell 1.6% to €1.27 billion ($1.50 billion) from €1.29 billion. Organic sales increased 2.2% as volume/mix was up 3.4% and price declined 1.2%.
Within Corbion’s Functional Ingredients & Solutions segment, sales fell 2.8% to €970 million from €998 million. Organic sales increased 1.1%. Momentum in natural preservation and extended shelf life supported volume/mix sales growth of 1.9%, which was offset by a pricing decline of 0.8%. Within the segment, volume/mix increased in food due to momentum in the market adjacencies such as dairy stabilizers and natural mold inhibition as well as increased lactic acid sales to polylactic acid (PLA). Demand in the bakery and meat markets remained soft.
“This segment delivered a solid performance in a mixed market environment,” Rigaud said. “Our food business showed good momentum driven by continued demand of natural and label-friendly preservation solutions. At the same time, some markets remain soft, partly in North America, where inflation continued to impact demand.”
In the Health & Nutrition segment, net sales increased 2.3% to €297 million from €290 million. Volume/mix increased 8.9% due to double-digit-percentage growth in biomaterials and high-single-digit-percentage growth in nutrition and pharma. Pricing declined due to temporarily lower fish oil prices and greater exposure to short-term contracts in aquaculture.
“We saw continued expansion of algae omega-3 DHA, with growth extending beyond aquaculture into pet food and into human nutrition,” Rigaud said.
In the TotalEnergies Corbion joint venture, sales increased 0.4% to €134.1 million from €133.6 million with organic sales growth up 4.8%. Corbion last November announced plans to sell its 50% interest in the joint venture.
In the fourth quarter, adjusted EBITDA of €48 million was up 22% from €39 million in the same time of the previous year. Sales of €310 million were down 1.6% from €315 million.
Amsterdam-based Corbion’s outlook for fiscal 2026 includes organic sales growth between 3% to 6% and adjusted EBITDA margin of about 17%.
“Our priorities are clear: Invest in natural preservation, nutrition and biomedical polymers,” Rigaud said.