Annual Report 2015 -...

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Global DiversityAnnual Report 2015

The Oetker Group

The Oetker GroupIn Profile

With around 30,800 employees and sales revenue of more than EUR 12 billion, the Oetker Group is one of the major European family businesses. Broad diversifi cation in six business divisions characterizes the internationally active company, which can now look back on a history of more than 125 years.

The

Num

bers

consolidated companies417

years of corporate history

125

30,787employees

12.2 billion

Sales of more than EUR

The Oetker Group

The Oetker GroupIn Profile

With around 30,800 employees and sales revenue of more than EUR 12 billion, the Oetker Group is one of the major European family businesses. Broad diversifi cation in six business divisions characterizes the internationally active company, which can now look back on a history of more than 125 years.

2013 2014 2015 %*

NET SALES (IN EUR MILLION) 10,844 10,934 12,226 11.8

Food 2,577 2,622 2,990 14.0

Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages 1,843 1,929 1,966 1.9

Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits 687 697 689 – 1.2

Shipping 5,254 5,186 6,057 16.8

Other Interests 483 500 524 4.7

INVESTMENTS (IN EUR MILLION)

(excluding companies consolidated

for the fi rst time) 777 667 740 11.0

Food 158 132 153 16.3

Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages 105 121 97 – 20.3


Shipping 450 348 437 25.4

Other Interests 52 50 38 – 23.5

EQUITY (IN EUR MILLION) 3,105 3,484 3,613 3.7

Equity ratio (in %) 40 41 41

BALANCE SHEET TOTAL (IN EUR MILLION) 7,770 8,499 8,812 3.7

EMPLOYEES 26,907 28,354 30,787 8.6

Food 12,272 12,790 14,478 13.2


Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits 2,028 2,007 1,972 – 1.7

Shipping 4,491 5,360 5,960 11.2

Other Interests 2,427 2,440 2,482 1.7

* Percentage change 2014 / 2015. The percentages relate to the exact amounts rather than the rounded totals.

The Oetker GroupKey Indicators

Key Indicators and Divisions

The Oetker Group

The Oetker GroupDivisions

Shipping

The Hamburg Süd Group connects all five con-tinents with its logistics network. It operates container ships, bulk carriers and product tankers and is one of the world’s ten biggest container shipping lines and one of the leading providers in the north-south trade lanes.

Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits

Henkell & Co. is not only Germany’s most exported sparkling wine brand, but is a leading provider of sparkling wine, wine and spirits in Europe. The Group is represented in 20 coun-tries and exports to more than 100 countries.

Other Interests

Budenheim, the Oetker Collection, OEDIV Oetker Daten- und Informationsverarbeitung, Handelsgesellschaft Sparrenberg and Roland Transport are bundled in the Other Interests Division.

Bank

Bankhaus Lampe is one of the leading private banks in Germany with twelve German branches and further offices in London, New York and Vienna.

Food

Dr. Oetker is the umbrella for brand product companies in the areas of ambient food, frozen food, chilled products and bulk consumer business. The Martin Braun Group and Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese complete the division.

Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages

With 16 sites in total, the Radeberger Group is Germany’s largest privately run brewing group. The core beer business is supplemented by familiar nonalcoholic beverage brands such as Original Selters, Bionade and Pepsi.

Key Indicators and Divisions

The Oetker Group

The Oetker GroupDivisions

Shipping

The Hamburg Süd Group connects all five con-tinents with its logistics network. It operates container ships, bulk carriers and product tankers and is one of the world’s ten biggest container shipping lines and one of the leading providers in the north-south trade lanes.


Henkell & Co. is not only Germany’s most exported sparkling wine brand, but is a leading provider of sparkling wine, wine and spirits in Europe. The Group is represented in 20 coun-tries and exports to more than 100 countries.

Other Interests

Budenheim, the Oetker Collection, OEDIV Oetker Daten- und Informationsverarbeitung, Handelsgesellschaft Sparrenberg and Roland Transport are bundled in the Other Interests Division.

Bank

Bankhaus Lampe is one of the leading private banks in Germany with twelve German branches and further offices in London, New York and Vienna.

Food

Dr. Oetker is the umbrella for brand product companies in the areas of ambient food, frozen food, chilled products and bulk consumer business. The Martin Braun Group and Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese complete the division.


With 16 sites in total, the Radeberger Group is Germany’s largest privately run brewing group. The core beer business is supplemented by familiar nonalcoholic beverage brands such as Original Selters, Bionade and Pepsi.

Food

oetker.comoetker.deoetker-professional.de coppenrath-wiese.demartinbraungruppe.de

On all continents around the world, people rely on delicious food from Dr. Oetker. The Food Division bundles its brand product companies under this umbrella. It is completed by the Martin Braun Group and Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese. 14,478 staff work in this division’s companies and generated sales revenue of EUR 2,990 million in the 2015 financial year.

Food

The Oetker Group

Dr. OetkerDr. August Oetker founded a small com pany in Bielefeld in 1891. He sold health cocoa, tinctures – and baking powder. Today, more than 11,500 employees worldwide in the Dr. Oetker fam ily business produce more than 3,500 products – still including baking powder and many other baking products, but also baking mixes, decorations, desserts and sweet meals, chilled desserts, preserving products, ready cakes, muesli, frozen pizzas and snacks, refining products, a broad range for bulk consumers and lots more.

Conditorei Coppenrath & WieseSweet treats are the main business of the fam-ily business Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese: the confectioner is a leading manufacturer of frozen gateaux and cakes, which are pro-

duced by 2,200 employees in Osnabrück and Mettingen. Besides cream cakes, baked cakes, sheet cakes, cream rolls and slices, strudels, biscuits and desserts, the company’s range also includes frozen rolls and baguettes.

Martin Braun GroupThe Martin Braun Group markets a full range of convenience products such as sweet and savory bakery products, bread and rolls, desserts and ice cream for bulk consumers. With Agrano, C. Siebrecht Söhne, Cresco, Capfruit, Delite, Martin Braun and Wolf ButterBack, it comprises all companies in the bulk consumer baking sector and employs approximately 1,400 staff at twelve locations. With their products, the Group is represent-ed in around 70 countries worldwide.


radeberger-gruppe.de

Internationally familiar names, brands sold across Germany, regional specialties: the Radeberger Group offers beer aficionados a broad product portfolio. Original Selters from Selters an der Lahn, Bionade from Ostheim vor der Rhön, Ti, the alternative refreshing tea, and Pepsi, the top international brand, in the range of non-alcoholic beverages round off the diverse portfolio of Germany’s largest privately run brewing group. They form the Beer and Non-alcoholic Beverages Division, where 5,894 employees gener ated EUR 1,966 million in sales revenue in 2015.


The Oetker Group

Beers“German beer culture” is not only found in the logo of Germany’s largest brewery group. That this represents a business model that is actually put into practice every single day can also be seen in the highly varied portfo-lio: the unique Radeberger Pilsner, sparkling Schöfferhofer Weizen or the Frisian- dry Jever Pilsener. Pils and Weizenbier brands known across Germany can be found under the umbrella of the Radeberger Group.

The Radeberger Group can serve the current trend towards regional products like almost no other company in the German beer mar-ket. Allgäuer Büble Bier, Berliner Kindl and Berliner Pilsner, Brinkhoff’s No. 1, Dort-munder Kronen, Sion Kölsch, Ur-Krostitzer, Freiberger, Stuttgarter Hofbräu and Tucher, to name just a few of the brands, offer a major range of regional premium brands. In addition, the brands of the Radeberger Group are also represented with various varie-ties in the market for nonalcoholic beers.

International premium brands like Guinness, Kilkenny or Estrella Damm enrich the ex-tensive range of beers. The Mexican brand, Sol, has also been part of the portfolio of the brewing group since January 2016.

The Radeberger Group’s brands, however, are not only sold in Germany. They are enjoying constantly growing popularity on the inter-national stage.

Nonalcoholic BeveragesThe portfolio of nonalcoholic beverages in-cludes one of the world’s first brand products: Original Selters from Selters an der Lahn. The range is supplemented by Bionade, the alternative refreshment from Ostheim vor der Rhön and the refreshing tea, Ti. The Pepsi, Mirinda, 7Up and Schwip Schwap brands from cooperation partner PepsiCo Germany complete the range of nonalcoholic beverages.


henkell-sektkellerei.de

Henkell – this name stands for Germany’s most exported sparkling wine brand. And it stands for the Henkell & Co. Group, whose tradition-rich companies with 1,972 employees form the Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits Division. In the 2015 financial year they generated revenues of EUR 689 million. The Group, which is based in the original headquarters in Wiesbaden, is represented with its own companies in 20 countries and exports to more than 100 nations worldwide.


The Oetker Group

Sparkling WineThe Henkell & Co. Group offers all major varieties of sparkling wine from its own production. Besides familiar German spar-kling wine brands such as Henkell, Fürst von Metternich, Deinhard, Kupferberg Gold and Söhnlein Brillant, the portfolio com-prises its own Champagnes and Crémants from France, Prosecco from Italy and Cava from Spain. There are also long-established sparkling wine brands from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. Henkell & Co. is the number one for sparkling wine in Austria, Sweden, Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slo-vakia and Canada, for nonalcoholic sparkling wine in France and for Prosecco in the USA.

WineBesides numerous sparkling wines, a pre-mium collection of well-known German and

international wines completes the Group’s range: the two German vineyards Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg’sche Domäne Schloss Johannisberg and G.H. von Mumm’sches Weingut can look back on several centuries of experience in making fine wines and produce world-famous Riesling wines. Inter-nationally, the BB, Víno Mikulov, Habánské Sklepy and i heart wines set important accents for the Group.

SpiritsHenkell & Co. is also market leader in the spirits segment – for vodka in Germany, for gin in Poland and for brandy in Slovakia. The portfolio includes the Wodka Gorbatschow, Kuemmerling, Fürst Bismarck, Jacobi 1880, Scharlachberg, Pott Rum, Batida de Côco, Mangaroca Cachaça and Cardenal Mendoza brands.

Shipping

hamburgsud.com

With more than 250 offices, including over 100 of its own, the Hamburg Süd Group is represented worldwide. With more than 125 container ships, including 48 owned by the Group, it is one of the world’s ten biggest container lines and is a leading provider in north-south trades. In 2015, it realized sales of EUR 6,057 million with 5,960 employees. Its core business is container liner shipping, including all pre- and post-shipment logistical services with Hamburg Süd as a German carrier and Aliança as a Brazilian shipping line. In addition, the Group operates with around 50 ships in bulk shipping and with ten ships in product tanker shipping.

Shipping

The Oetker Group

Liner shippingHamburg Süd has a network of approximately 50 liner services at its disposal, in which over 125 container ships and a pool of around 600,000 containers are deployed. To guaran-tee high logistics quality and optimum trans-port conditions, most of the container ships are designed to suit the particular needs of the regions they operate in. Besides stan-dard 20- and 40-foot boxes, special containers are used that take into account the different requirements of certain raw materials, semi- finished and finished products, industrial goods as well as natural products. This applies in particular to the reefer segment, where innovative reefer container technologies pre-serve the quality of fruit, meat, fish, vege-tables, dairy products and other perishable goods.

Tramp shippingUnlike in liner shipping, there are no fixed schedules and routes in tramp operations. In this sector, the Group is present on the oceans in bulk and product tanker shipping with about 60 ships under the names of Rudolf A. Oetker (RAO), Furness Withy

Chartering and Aliança Bulk (Aliabulk). When and where each ship will be loaded, and where it will sail to, depends on the customer and his cargo. Bulk ships carry bulk goods such as fer tilizers, wheat or coal. Apart from that, the Group’s service portfolio includes product tankers, which transport bulk liquids such as diesel oil and aviation fuel as well as mo lasses, vegetable oils and light chemicals.

Other servicesColumbus Shipmanagement GmbH (CSG) handles the technical management of the Group’s own liner ships and provides support for their crews. It also supports new ship-building, which takes place above all in Asia. The shipping group holds interests in a ter-minal in Brazil and operates its own container depots and transport companies, primarily in South America. Hamburg Süd Reiseagentur, a special service provider for business travel, cruises and other tourism products, rounds off the service spectrum in the Shipping Division.

Other Interests

budenheim.comoetkercollection.comoediv.deroland-transport.de

The Other Interests Division with its companies covers the chemical industry, luxury hotels, information technology, procurement services and logistics and has a varied product and services portfolio. The 2,482 employees of this division generated sales revenue of EUR 524 million in the 2015 financial year.

Other Interests

The Oetker Group

BudenheimThe traditional company Budenheim has its origins in the town of the same name in Rhine-Hesse. It has developed on the world markets to become a leading international manufacturer of premium phosphates and special chemicals. Approximately 1,000 em-ployees produce more than 1,000 products for around 6,000 customers in over 100 countries – for special technical applications, food and pharmaceutical products.

Handelsgesellschaft SparrenbergMarket expertise, services, tools – the trad-ing company, Handelsgesellschaft Sparren-berg, supports the Oetker Group and selected external companies in strategic purchasing with information and consulting services in the areas of procurement market research, product group analysis, tender management and coordination / pooling.

OEDIV Oetker Daten- und InformationsverarbeitungOEDIV Oetker Daten- und Informations-verarbeitung KG operates not only the Group’s

own data centers, but to a large extent also IT systems for external companies. Focal points include SAP and Microsoft applications and associated solutions for mapping inte-gral process chains.

Oetker CollectionUnique elegance and distinct hospitality – that is what is represented by the “Masterpiece Hotels” of the Oetker Collection. Four of these masterpieces – Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa, Hotel Le Bristol, Château Saint-Martin & Spa and Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc – belong to the Group. Six other grand hotels complete the Collection. Their management is entrusted to the Oetker Hotel Management Company (OHMC).

Roland TransportRoland Transport is a service-oriented partner for logistics services. Besides forwarding and other logistics services, Roland offers support in tenders, transport planning and other 4PL activities (4PL = fourth-party logistics).

Bank

Bankhaus Lampe is one of Germany’s leading private banks and stands for quality. The select customer base includes wealthy private customers, companies and institutional clients. With 661 employ-ees, the Group of the same name forms the Bank Division. Besides Bankhaus Lampe with twelve branches and other offices in London, New York and Vienna, it includes further subsidiaries and equity participations.

bankhaus-lampe.de

Bank

The Oetker Group

Bankhaus LampeHermann Lampe founded the bank in Minden in East Westphalia in 1852. Today, it is headquartered in Bielefeld. There are other branches in Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Munich, Münster, Osnabrück and Stuttgart.

Just like in its early years, today Bankhaus Lampe still finances entrepreneurs and companies and advises them on issues sur-rounding equity and external capital. In ad-dition, it is specialized in financial consulting and management for wealthy private cus-tomers, as well as investment and asset man-agement for institutional clients.

As a bank of entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, this traditional company operates in the market with total independence and continu-ity. Thus it offers ideal conditions for long-term and trusting business relationships.

“Going the extra mile” is the aspiration that the bank and its staff always feel committed to. Bankhaus Lampe faces the competition from the major banks with a balance of exclu-sivity, personal advice and state-of-the-art processes, and offers a trendsetting model in the private banking sector.

The Oetker GroupHistory

1936Participation in the shipping company Hamburg Süd.

1958Acquisition of Söhnlein Rheingold Sektkellerei. Today’s international Henkell & Co. Group was formed through the subsequent merger with Henkell & Co.

1891The pharmacist Dr. August Oetker lays the foundation for the company Dr. Oetker with the development of the baking powder Backin.

1923Budenheim acquired. 1941

Acquisition of the majority share in Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa.

1949Acquisition of Bankhaus Lampe, founded in Minden in 1852, and re-location of the com-pany’s headquar-ters to Bielefeld.

1944The founder’s grand-son, Rudolf-August Oetker (1916–2007) takes over the man-agement of the family business and contin-uously opens new divisions.

1950Dr. Oetker Verlag founded.

The Oetker Group

History

1990Acquisition of Martin Braun, from which today’s Martin Braun Group evolves.

1969Hotel du

Cap-Eden-Roc (France)

acquired.

1981August Oetker becomes

General Partner of Dr. August Oetker KG.

1978Hotel

Le Bristol Paris acquired.

1994Acquisition of the hotel Château St.-Martin & Spa (France).

2015Acquisition of Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese, the leading manufacturer of frozen gateaux and cakes.

2010Richard Oetker

becomes General Partner of

Dr. August Oetker KG and takes over as Chairman of the

Management Board of Dr. Oetker GmbH.

2008Founding of Oetker Hotel Management Company (OHMC), which specializes in the management of unique, externally owned hotels.

1952Acquisition of Binding-Brauerei AG in Frankfurt am Main; the city is today the headquarters of the Radeberger Group.

The Oetker GroupOverview

Sales revenue(previous year)

Shipping

Food



Other Interests

49.5%24.5%16.1%5.6%4.3%

Shares in total sales revenue

EUR 6,057 million(EUR 5,186 million)



EUR 689 million(EUR 697 million)


Distribution of investments by division

59.0%

20.7%

13.0%

5.2%

2.1%

Shipping

Food


Other Interests


Rest of Europe

Distribution of sales revenue by region

Rest of EU23.1%

Germany32.3%

Rest of world39.9%

4.8%

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“ For me and my predecessors our maxim has always been that we family entre-preneurs regard ourselves as just one link in a long chain transcending the generations. We have merely borrowed this company from future generations. It has been entrusted to us so that we can, if possible, pass it on to the next generation in a better condition.”Richard Oetker

The world around us is not standing still. To call it “dynamic” is missing the point. Life in the information society takes no breaks. The global megatrends in politics, society, technology and industry are now changing our Group across the world.

Digitization is another factor that is making society more individualized. Start-ups are developing entirely new business models and our everyday working and pri-vate lives would both be inconceivable without the Internet of Things. At the same time, a changing political world order is affecting the way we think and act.

The markets are transforming worldwide at an astonishing pace, new players are entering existing markets and brands will have to go along with changes in society if they are to survive in the long term, because only positive experiences with our brands and services will turn into positive results for us. We have to address the personal needs of people as best we can. We have to be more conscious of this responsibility than ever and invest all our energy in order to attain this goal with the Oetker Group.

For this reason, we have also done well in the past financial year, besides internal, strategic course adjustments, to continue to place our focus in all divisions on external growth through acquisitions. It was a year in which the highest amount in the history of the Oetker Group was invested in acquisitions. We have forged new partnerships and been able to win over extremely valuable companies for our Group. Besides prestigious new hotels in the Oetker Collection, we are delighted that Hamburg Süd has taken over the shipping line Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica S.A. (CCNI) and the associated agency activities. Likewise, the suc-cessful acquisition in the Food Division of Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese and a number of other successfully completed acquisition projects have delivered a valu-able contribution to the Group’s growth.

I would like to thank all customers and business partners of our Group companies for the good cooperation in the reporting year. But above all I want to thank all our employees, who have contributed to our company’s growth through their com-mitment at their workplaces and on our boards.

Today we live in the digital age. Our forefathers lived through all the industrial revolutions and always achieved the best for us and our business. From the inven-tion of mechanical systems and the first production lines to industrial manu-

Ladies and Gentlemen

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The world around us is not standing still. To call it “dynamic” is missing the point. Life in the information society takes no breaks. The global megatrends in politics, society, technology and industry are now changing our Group across the world.

Digitization is another factor that is making society more individualized. Start-ups are developing entirely new business models and our everyday working and pri-vate lives would both be inconceivable without the Internet of Things. At the same time, a changing political world order is affecting the way we think and act.

The markets are transforming worldwide at an astonishing pace, new players are entering existing markets and brands will have to go along with changes in society if they are to survive in the long term, because only positive experiences with our brands and services will turn into positive results for us. We have to address the personal needs of people as best we can. We have to be more conscious of this responsibility than ever and invest all our energy in order to attain this goal with the Oetker Group.

For this reason, we have also done well in the past financial year, besides internal, strategic course adjustments, to continue to place our focus in all divisions on external growth through acquisitions. It was a year in which the highest amount in the history of the Oetker Group was invested in acquisitions. We have forged new partnerships and been able to win over extremely valuable companies for our Group. Besides prestigious new hotels in the Oetker Collection, we are delighted that Hamburg Süd has taken over the shipping line Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica S.A. (CCNI) and the associated agency activities. Likewise, the suc-cessful acquisition in the Food Division of Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese and a number of other successfully completed acquisition projects have delivered a valu-able contribution to the Group’s growth.

I would like to thank all customers and business partners of our Group companies for the good cooperation in the reporting year. But above all I want to thank all our employees, who have contributed to our company’s growth through their com-mitment at their workplaces and on our boards.

Today we live in the digital age. Our forefathers lived through all the industrial revolutions and always achieved the best for us and our business. From the inven-tion of mechanical systems and the first production lines to industrial manu-

Ladies and Gentlemen

facturing supported by robots – all these developments have also influenced our business decisively. Looking back spurs us on to find solutions for the constantly changing conditions in the future too. We want to and will keep writing the success story of the Oetker Group. With stronger internationalization of our products and services, we will penetrate markets that we do not yet serve and thus take advan-tage of new growth opportunities. Innovations will drive us forward and we will again and again go in new directions.

The old principle applies for us that we will base everything we do on the notion of sustainable corporate development.

With best wishes,

Richard Oetker

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The world is growing closer together – around

With its production and sales companies, Dr. Oetker operates in around 40 countries. The company is represented with its own pizza production in Ger-many, the United Kingdom, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, China, Australia, Canada and the USA. The most popular Dr. Oetker frozen pizza worldwide is the Ristorante Mozzarella.

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The world is growing closer together – around

With its production and sales companies, Dr. Oetker operates in around 40 countries. The company is represented with its own pizza production in Ger-many, the United Kingdom, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, China, Australia, Canada and the USA. The most popular Dr. Oetker frozen pizza worldwide is the Ristorante Mozzarella.

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the globe people trust our

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The Radeberger Group serves the trend towards regional specialties like almost no other company in the German beer market. As a traditional product, Allgäuer Büble Bier is one of numerous regional beer brands in the product portfolio and is enjoying constantly growing popularity far beyond Bavaria’s borders.

products and services. We form

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The Radeberger Group serves the trend towards regional specialties like almost no other company in the German beer market. As a traditional product, Allgäuer Büble Bier is one of numerous regional beer brands in the product portfolio and is enjoying constantly growing popularity far beyond Bavaria’s borders.

products and services. We form

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regional brands and

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are close to our customers worldwide.

As one of the world’s leading sparkling wine producers, the Henkell & Co. Group stands for practically all sparkling wine categories from its own production: sparkling wine, champagne, crémant, cava and prosecco. Mionetto pro-secco has belonged to the Group since 2008 and is offered in over 50 countries worldwide. The picture shows the Mionetto grape harvest in Veneto, Italy.

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are close to our customers worldwide.

As one of the world’s leading sparkling wine producers, the Henkell & Co. Group stands for practically all sparkling wine categories from its own production: sparkling wine, champagne, crémant, cava and prosecco. Mionetto pro-secco has belonged to the Group since 2008 and is offered in over 50 countries worldwide. The picture shows the Mionetto grape harvest in Veneto, Italy.

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We discover markets, explore

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The Hamburg Süd Group is represented worldwide with around 250 offices, including over 100 of its own, and with more than 125 container ships is one of the world’s ten biggest container shipping lines and one of the leading providers in the north-south trades. The container ship Cap San Augustin can be seen in the picture against the backdrop of the Hong Kong skyline.

new routes and connect the

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The Hamburg Süd Group is represented worldwide with around 250 offices, including over 100 of its own, and with more than 125 container ships is one of the world’s ten biggest container shipping lines and one of the leading providers in the north-south trades. The container ship Cap San Augustin can be seen in the picture against the backdrop of the Hong Kong skyline.

new routes and connect the

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economic centers of today with those of

12

The Oetker Collection represents the most inspiring ensemble of grand hotels in the world. Every single one of them is a unique masterpiece. The Moroccan luxury hotel Palais Namaskar shown in the picture is nestled in the exotic landscape of the Palmeraie between the Atlas Mountains and the hill chain of the Djebilet.

tomorrow. Even from a distance,

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The Oetker Collection represents the most inspiring ensemble of grand hotels in the world. Every single one of them is a unique masterpiece. The Moroccan luxury hotel Palais Namaskar shown in the picture is nestled in the exotic landscape of the Palmeraie between the Atlas Mountains and the hill chain of the Djebilet.

tomorrow. Even from a distance,13

we always look at the individual. In this way,

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we remain successful and

Bankhaus Lampe offers wealthy private clients and companies, as well as institutional clients, an extensive consulting and services concept. The picture shows the operation in London, Lampe Capital UK, which advises institutional investors in the United Kingdom on the German stock market.

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we remain successful and

Bankhaus Lampe offers wealthy private clients and companies, as well as institutional clients, an extensive consulting and services concept. The picture shows the operation in London, Lampe Capital UK, which advises institutional investors in the United Kingdom on the German stock market.

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go into the future with courage.

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Contents

01 Group Management Report

The Oetker Group Management Structure 18 – 19

Group Management 20 – 21

Overview 22

Economic Framework 23 – 25

Business Development and Situation 26 – 27

Locations 28 – 29

Business Divisions Food 30 – 40

Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages 41 – 46

Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits 47 – 51

Shipping 52 – 57

Other Interests 58 – 67

Bank 68 – 69

Financial Position

of the Oetker Group 70 – 72

Performance Indicators Financial and Nonfinancial

Performance Indicators 73

Personnel 74 – 81

Environmental Protection 82 – 85

Subsequent Events and Forecast 86

Opportunities and Risks Report 87 – 89

02 Consolidated Financial Statements

Consolidated Balance Sheet 92 – 93

Consolidated Statement

of Changes in Fixed Assets 94 – 95

Notes to the Consolidated

Financial Statements 96 – 103

Publishing Information 104

The percentages included in the 2015 annual report relate to the exact amounts rather than the rounded totals. Because of rounding, it may be the case that individual fi gures (euros, %, etc.) do not add up precisely to the total given.

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Contents


The Oetker Group Management Structure 18 – 19

Group Management 20 – 21

Overview 22

Economic Framework 23 – 25

Business Development and Situation 26 – 27

Locations 28 – 29

Business Divisions Food 30 – 40

Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages 41 – 46

Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits 47 – 51

Shipping 52 – 57

Other Interests 58 – 67

Bank 68 – 69

Financial Position

of the Oetker Group 70 – 72

Performance Indicators Financial and Nonfinancial

Performance Indicators 73

Personnel 74 – 81

Environmental Protection 82 – 85

Subsequent Events and Forecast 86

Opportunities and Risks Report 87 – 89



Consolidated Statement

of Changes in Fixed Assets 94 – 95



Publishing Information 104

The percentages included in the 2015 annual report relate to the exact amounts rather than the rounded totals. Because of rounding, it may be the case that individual fi gures (euros, %, etc.) do not add up precisely to the total given.

Contents


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Group Management Report

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The Oetker GroupManagement Structure

The Oetker Group is one of Germany’s major family businesses. The owner family exerts considerable influence on the Group’s strategy and business policy. It has estab-lished the principle of its entrepreneurial engagement in the following words: “The interests of the company have priority over those of the owner family.”

This principle forms the basis for continuous development of the business, as it puts the Oetker Group in a position to combine sustainable and healthy profitability with a high earnings retention rate.

The management structure ensures that decisions are made locally, close to the market and based on the needs of the line of business concerned, while resources are pooled centrally at the same time. The management level consists of the stockholders’ meet-ing, the advisory board, Group management and the executive boards of the individual companies.

The advisory board of Dr. August Oetker KG, which, based on the articles of incor-poration, is made up of stockholders and a majority of individuals from outside the stockholder families, remained unchanged during the 2015 financial year.

On January 28, 2015, Dr. Alfred Oetker was elected as deputy to the chairman of the advisory board, Dr. h. c. August Oetker.

The members of the advisory board representing the stockholders are now Dr. h. c. August Oetker (chairman), Dr. Alfred Oetker and Rudolf Louis Schweizer. The external members are Dr. Christoph v. Grolman, Dr. Andreas Jacobs, Hans-Otto Schrader and Carsten Spohr.

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Stockholders

Advisory BoardDr. h. c. August OetkerChairman of the Advisory Board and stockholder of Dr. August Oetker KG.

Dr. Alfred OetkerStockholder of Dr. August Oetker KG and Deputy to the Chairman of the

Advisory Board, Dr. h. c. August Oetker, since January 28, 2015.

Dr. Christoph v. GrolmanChief Executive Officer of TBG AG.

Dr. Andreas JacobsPresident of the Administrative Board of Barry Callebaut AG and Chairman

of INSEAD – the Business School for the World.

Hans-Otto SchraderChairman of the Executive Board of the Otto Group.

Rudolf Louis SchweizerStockholder of Dr. August Oetker KG.

Carsten SpohrChairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Group ManagementRichard Oetker General Partner of Dr. August Oetker KG and Chairman of the Executive Board of Dr. Oetker GmbH.

Dr. Albert ChristmannGeneral Partner of Dr. August Oetker KG, Head of Other Interests, Banking, Finance, Controlling,

Legal and Taxes.

Dr. Ottmar GastGeneral Partner of Dr. August Oetker KG and Chairman of the Executive Board of Hamburg

Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft KG (Hamburg Süd).

Dr. Niels LorenzChairman of the Executive Board of Radeberger Gruppe KG.

Executive Boards of the Group Companies

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Group Management

The members of the group management (from left to right): Dr. Albert Christmann (Other Interests, Banking, Finance, Controlling, Legal and Taxes), Dr. Ottmar Gast (Shipping), Richard Oetker (Food; Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits), Dr. Niels Lorenz (Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages).

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Overview

The companies of the Oetker Group operate in various business divisions worldwide. Under the Group umbrella and building on the strategic potential and core com-petencies of the Oetker Group, the divisions are developed and expanded autonomously. As the Group holding company, Dr. August Oetker KG steers this process centrally through mature structures, a leadership framework with clear responsibilities, coordi-nation of finance and personnel and central service departments. Standards and values across the Group form the cultural framework for effective cooperation that builds on high business continuity.

The Oetker Group is a corporation committed to the mainstays of diversification and risk balancing and, within the individual divisions, concentrates on their core competen-cies. They consist of five consolidated divisions: Food; Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages; Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits; Shipping; Other Interests.

The consolidated financial statements for 2015 cover a total of 417 companies (previous year: 398 companies) under the rules of full consolidation, of which 240 are based in Germany (previous year: 234) and 177 (previous year: 164) abroad. The Bank Division is included in the consolidated financial statements at equity.

The Oetker Group is represented with companies in more than 50 countries and maintains an extensive network of production, sales and service units on all continents. There are more than 250 locations worldwide.

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Macroeconomic conditionsThe global economy grew in total by 3.0% in 2015. The advanced economies continued their moderate growth, while the emerging nations recorded a decline in growth. The main reasons for the slowdown in the expansion rate in the emerging nations were, in particular, the global fall in the demand for raw materials and a further weakening of the Chinese economy. The weak Chinese demand for imports has also impacted global trading, which grew by 2.2% and thus lagged behind the dynamic force of the previous year.

The economy of the European Union continued developing positively with growth of 1.8%. In doing so, the eurozone benefited overall from low energy costs, a weak euro versus numerous currencies and favorable financing terms because of the low interest rates. Uncertainties in connection with the negotiations on the rescue package for Greece burdened the economy outside Greece only slightly. The economic trends in the European Union presented a heterogeneous picture. Whilst the macroeconomies of the United Kingdom and Spain registered a still-persisting upswing with robust growth rates, Italy and France only had a weak positive development. Germany’s gross domestic product grew moderately by 1.5%. The expansion was supported by private consumption, which benefited from higher levels of employment and higher real incomes. Given the modest expansion of the global economy, German exports grew only slightly, especially as the stimulating effect of the euro’s devaluation is gradually waning. Eastern Europe finds itself in a recession caused above all by Russia’s negative economic development.

The economic recovery in North America continued. Whilst the economy in the USA weakened at the beginning of the year due to a hard winter and disruptions as the result of port strikes, it developed positively over the course of the reporting year mainly thanks to strong domestic demand. South America, on the other hand, could not demon-strate positive economic growth. In Brazil, in particular, the recession continued at an unabated high pace. The growth in Asia is above all attributable to India and China. China’s economic growth nonetheless weakened in 2015, so the growth rate lagged behind the previous year’s level. The structural transformation in China is putting a strain on key areas of the economy. In addition, the turbulence on China’s financial markets dragged the financial markets of other countries down in its wake.

The development of the oil price is a key parameter in the macroeconomic environment. Having recovered somewhat in the early summer and standing at over USD 68 at times in May, less than USD 38 had to be paid at the end of the year for a Brent grade barrel grade. The decision by OPEC at the beginning of December not to reduce their pro-duction rates suggests that the supply of crude oil will exceed demand for some time to come.

In the major advanced economies, monetary policy remained very expansive. The degree of expansion in monetary policy, however, developed differently this year. The

Economic Framework

24

US Federal Reserve, for instance, no longer expanded the volume of securities held and, for the first time in almost ten years, cautiously raised base interest rates in Decem-ber. In contrast, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan massively extended their securities purchasing programs in view of their much more moderate economic trends and low inflation. When compared to the previous year, consumer prices in the eurozone overall have not risen. The inflation rate for 2015 is thus clearly below the medium-term inflation target sought by the ECB of just under 2%.

The international business of the Oetker Group is affected by the exchange rate of the euro versus numerous currencies. Of particular significance is the US dollar, the development of which was unclear over the course of the year: between the beginning of the year and the start of the bond purchases of the ECB on March 9, 2015, the euro lost significantly in value versus the US dollar. Since then, however, the external value of the euro has stabilized and even gained somewhat in value in the summer months. After the interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve in December, on the other hand, the euro has lost value when compared to the US dollar. On the balance sheet date, the euro closed at USD 1.0887 and thus recorded a loss in value of 10.3% when compared with its value at the end of the previous year.

The following table shows the development of the currencies important to the Oetker Group versus the euro:

CLOSING DATE AND AVERAGE RATESVERSUS THE EURO

As of December 31, 2014

As of December 31, 2015

Average 2014

Average 2015

Australian dollar 1.4829 1.4897 1.4723 1.4837

Brazilian real 3.2207 4.3117 3.1093 3.7426

British pound 0.7789 0.7340 0.8031 0.7242

Canadian dollar 1.4063 1.5116 1.4636 1.4251

US dollar 1.2141 1.0887 1.3211 1.1046

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Division-specific conditionsFood; Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages; Sparkling Wine, Wines and SpiritsThe FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and food markets, in particular in Europe, showed only slight growth in 2015. Following the macroeconomic conditions, the prices for crude oil and raw materials fell further. The competition in all product ranges and national markets of Dr. Oetker has remained intense.

The beverages and beer market was also marked by intense competition. Whilst the total beer market remained stable, domestic sales in the beer market trended slightly down (– 0.7%). Changing consumer habits and the demographic transformation are affecting the beer market. In addition, the industry is being impacted by price wars in the trade. Strong competitive pressure, rising costs and difficult-to-predict political and social conditions are keeping the players in this industry busy.

Whilst slightly declining sparkling wine and spirits markets in Germany resulted in hard and aggressively priced predatory competition, the prosecco markets, in particular, developed positively internationally – with Northern Europe and North America as the focal points. Internationally, this was counteracted by the uncertain markets in China, Africa, Ukraine and Russia. The reintroduction of the sparkling wine tax in Austria also had a negative impact, which hit Henkell & Co. especially hard as the leading spar-kling wine company in the market.

ShippingLast year, global deliveries of new-build container ships – above all large container ships – reached an all-time high with a capacity of 1.7 million TEU. The capacity growth (+ 8.5%) clearly exceeded the global growth in cargoes (+ 1.0%). As a result of the increasing overcapacity, the worldwide laid-up fleet in December 2015 was around 1.4 million TEU again for the first time since 2010, which is having negative effects on global freight rates.

ChemicalsThe chemical industry in Germany suffered under the global environment. The selling prices for chemical products in year-on-year comparison have been falling steadily since 2012. The decisive factor for this is the price decline for crude oil. With high capac-ities in the market and only restrained demand, many global chemicals companies largely passed the savings on to their customers through lower raw material costs. With clearly declining prices (– 2.8%) and only a slight rise in production (+ 0.7%), the industry revenues are falling (– 0.4%) when compared to the previous year.

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2013 2014 2015 % *

NET SALES (IN EUR MILLION) 10,844 10,934 12,226 11.8

Food 2,577 2,622 2,990 14.0



Shipping 5,254 5,186 6,057 16.8

Other Interests 483 500 524 4.7

INVESTMENTS (IN EUR MILLION)(excluding companies consolidated for the fi rst time) 777 667 740 11.0

Food 158 132 153 16.3

Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages 105 121 97 – 20.3


Shipping 450 348 437 25.4

Other Interests 52 50 38 – 23.5

EQUITY (IN EUR MILLION) 3,105 3,484 3,613 3.7

Equity ratio (in %) 40 41 41

BALANCE SHEET TOTAL (IN EUR MILLION) 7,770 8,499 8,812 3.7

EMPLOYEES 26,907 28,354 30,787 8.6

Food 12,272 12,790 14,478 13.2


Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits 2,028 2,007 1,972 – 1.7

Shipping 4,491 5,360 5,960 11.2

Other Interests 2,427 2,440 2,482 1.7

* Percentage change 2014 / 2015. The percentages relate to the exact amounts rather than the rounded totals.

In the past financial year, the Oetker Group realized sales revenue of EUR 12,226 million and was thus able to increase revenue by 11.8% versus the previous year (EUR 10,934 mil-lion). The developments in exchange rates, especially the foreign currency most impor-tant for us, the US dollar, had a positive overall effect of EUR 830 million on the Group’s sales revenue. In addition, consolidation group effects led to a rise in revenue to EUR 498 million. Without taking first-time consolidation and de-consoli dations into account, the sales revenue corrected for exchange rate differences was just under the high level of the previous year. The slight fall in revenue (– 0.3%) in the operational busi-ness was due in particular to the difficult market environment in Shipping. Given the conditions, the Oetker Group nonetheless developed well in the 2015 reporting year.

The tables below show the distribution of sales revenue across the divisions and regions of the Oetker Group.

Business Development and Situation

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Sales revenue(previous year)

Shipping

Food



Other Interests

49.5%24.5%16.1%5.6%4.3%

Shares in total sales revenue






Distribution of investments by division

59.0%

20.7%

13.0%

5.2%

2.1%

Shipping

Food


Other Interests


Rest of Europe

Distribution of sales revenue by region

Rest of EU23.1%

Germany32.3%

Rest of world39.9%

4.8%

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EOH Externally owned hotel (Management by Oetker Hotel Management Company)

GOH Group-owned hotelPAL Production and administration locationPL Production locationSAL Sales locationSASU Sales support SEL Services locationSHL Shipping line SLL Sales and logistics location

43Region North America

Food

73Locationsworldwide

11Germany

22Eastern Europe

22Northern, Southern and Western Europe

1South America

7Asia and Australia

8North America

2Africa



16Germany


1North America



12Northern, Southern

and Western Europe

16Eastern Europe

1North America

Food: 3 PL, 3 SAL, 2 PAL (Dr. Oetker: 3 PL, 2 SAL, 2 PAL / Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese: 1 SAL)Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages: 1 SALSparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits: 1 SALShipping: 29 SLLOther Interests: Hotels: 1 EOH / Chemistry: 2 PAL / Others: 1

Region South America

Food: 1 PAL (Dr. Oetker)Shipping: 1 SHL, 23 SLL, 4 SEL Other Interests: Hotels: 1 EOH

Locations

3Germany

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30Asia and Australia

28South America

29North America

1Africa

Other Interests

7Asia and Australia


1South America

4North America

5Germany

Shipping

Locationsworldwide


4Africa

Region Germany

Food: 1 PL, 1 SAL, 9 PAL (Dr. Oetker: 1 PL, 5 PAL / Martin Braun: 3 PAL / Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese: 1 PAL, 1 SAL)Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages: 1 SAL, 15 PALSparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits: 1 PL, 2 PALShipping: 2 SHL, 2 SLL, 2 SELOther Interests: Chemistry: 1 PAL / Hotels: 1 GOH, 1 SASU / Others: 2

Region Eastern Europe

Food: 4 PL, 11 SAL, 7 PAL(Dr. Oetker: 4 PL, 8 SAL, 6 PAL / Martin Braun: 3 SAL, 1 PAL)Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits: 8 PL, 3 SAL, 5 PAL

44Region Asia and Australia

Food: 1 PL, 1 SAL, 5 PAL(Dr. Oetker: 1 PL, 5 PAL / Martin Braun: 1 SAL)Shipping: 1 SHL, 29 SLLOther Interests: Chemistry: 3 SAL, 1 PAL / Hotels: 1 EOH / Others: 2

Locationsworldwide

28112

60Region Northern, Southern and Western Europe

Food: 1 PL, 12 SAL, 9 PAL(Dr. Oetker: 1 PL, 12 SAL, 4 PAL / Martin Braun: 5 PAL / Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese: 1 SAL)Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages: 1 SALSparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits: 2 PL, 7 SAL, 3 PALShipping: 1 SHL, 14 SLLOther Interests: Chemistry: 1 SAL, 2 PAL / Hotels: 2 EOH, 3 GOH / Others: 2

Region Africa

Food: 2 PAL (Dr. Oetker)Shipping: 4 SLLOther Interests: Hotels: 1 EOH

7

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38

6Germany

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Food Division

2,990euros in sales

million

2015

2,990 million

2014

2,622 million

+ 14.0%

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Business Divisions

The Food Division is made up of branded product companies, which operate under the umbrella of Dr. Oetker and market their products worldwide in all key distribution channels. Dr. Oetker Germany is headquartered in Bielefeld. It has sales and production operations in around 40 countries. The Food Division is completed by the Martin Braun Group and Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese. The FrischeParadies Group belonged to the Oetker Group until October 31, 2015 and was then acquired by Transgourmet.

The companies run under Dr. Oetker concentrate in the consumer business on three strategic product ranges: ambient food, frozen food and chilled products. In these prod-uct ranges, which include among other things baking and food decoration products, baking mixes, desserts and sweet meals, preserving products, fresh ready-to-eat desserts, ready-to-eat cakes, muesli, refining products and frozen pizzas and snacks, Dr. Oetker is represented in Germany with around 400 different products and is market leader in almost all its product ranges.

In Europe, the company is market leader in the sectors of baking products, powdered desserts and frozen pizza. The international ranges in Europe and other countries com-prise in total more than 3,500 different products, some of which are marketed inter-nationally and in other cases are adapted to the local taste typical to the country. In India, Dr. Oetker is also present with various dressings, sauces and dips, and in France with breadsticks and pretzels.

The end-consumer business of Dr. Oetker is complemented by a richly varied offering for bulk consumers. To that end, Dr. Oetker Professional offers products in appropriate packaging sizes for kitchens and canteens in the catering segment, hospitals and other institutions.

The Martin Braun Group develops, produces and markets a full range of convenience products for the baking and confectionery industry, as well as the catering segment. The product portfolio comprises aromas, fillings, cream stabilizers, glazes, pastes, deco-rating products, ready-made and premixed baking products, gelling and binding agents, ice cream products, toppings, beverage concentrates, fruit purees and much more for bulk consumers in all relevant sales channels in more than 70 countries. The extensive range for commercial reprocessing is complemented by organic yeast products and sweet and savory frozen produce.

oetker.comoetker.deoetker-professional.commartinbraungruppe.decoppenrath-wiese.de

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Sweet delicacies are the core business of Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese, which has belonged to the Oetker Group since June 30, 2015. The confectioner is market leader for frozen cakes and gateaux, which are produced by around 2,200 employees in Osnabrück and Mettingen. Besides cream cakes, baked cakes, sheet cakes, cream rolls and slices, strudels, mini-cakes and desserts, the company’s range also includes frozen rolls and baguettes.

ProcurementTo safeguard the high quality requirements for Dr. Oetker products, all production materials are procured only via carefully selected suppliers who are approved in a regular quality assurance process. Compliance with the stringent quality standards has top priority in this process. The Dr. Oetker Food Standard defines the high requirements for raw materials. All contract partners are measured against those requirements. It is expected of contract partners that their conduct is in line with ethical business values. These are set out in the Dr. Oetker Supplier Code of Conduct, to which all suppliers are committed.

Ensuring the quality of production materials requires very specific and product group- dependent expertise among employees along the entire value chain. The international nature of the business enables and requires global knowledge and observation of the procurement markets important to the company. Together with its suppliers, the com-pany focuses on optimizing value chains and securing supply. Against the background of increasing volatility of the markets, risk management is an integral part of the pur-chasing and product group strategy, which is implemented within uniform international processes.

The purchasing policies of the Martin Braun Group secure transparency in the pur-chasing process. These policies have been adapted to meet the standards of the Oetker Group. All suppliers, for example, are selected based on defined criteria. All incoming production materials undergo a careful receiving check. The lead buying principle in the Martin Braun Group was expanded again last year and further members were delegated to the product teams of purchasing coordination in the Oetker Group.

At Coppenrath & Wiese the high quality requirements for the baked products and the needs of customers set the standard for raw materials and the service quality of its sup-pliers. Procurement is implemented close to the market and, through many years of close supplier relationships over short distances, provides efficient solutions to problems, in particular for new raw materials, packaging and indirect goods. To be able to manage higher requirements sustainably while conserving resources, a supplier management

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Business Divisions

system was implemented over the past two years. In addition, there is close coordination within the Oetker Group to identify and realize potential savings.

Production and logisticsThe Canadian Dr. Oetker pizza production plant put into operation in 2014 was com-pleted as planned last year with a fully automatic high-bay warehouse. Shifting the production of frozen pizzas from Germany to Canada is also reducing transatlantic transport costs. This is particularly beneficial for the environment.

As part of a retrofit project, the central warehouse for Dr. Oetker food products in Bielefeld was subjected to extensive modernization. A new provisioning and loading hall was erected and put into operation. In addition, the receiving and picking and various conveyor lines were replaced and all aspects of control technology and warehouse management were adapted to the latest technical standards.

At Martin Braun in Hanover, a separate department was set up for production of special, finely ground, fat creams for ice cream and confectionery products. It features the possibility to produce small batches and to add colorings, aromas and to mix in pieces of, for example, caramel or biscuit. Furthermore, aseptic container filling was imple-mented, making it possible to supply customers with jelly, fruit and cream products.

The efforts of the logistics managers of the Oetker Group to cooperate within the logistics working group made further progress in 2015. A collective nation- wide tendering process took place for selected Group companies for the first time in the sector of groupage and, part- and full-load shipments. Against the background of continuously changing ordering patterns in the market, process optimization measures were taken in the sector of internal logistics, such as the introduction of paperless commissioning and a permanent inventory in the SAP system. Within the context of Industry 4.0, an automated pallet mover system was introduced for the first time. This extendable system allows palletized goods to be moved autonomously along the internal transport routes of the logistics center all year long and, by doing so, alleviates the workload of personnel in their everyday logistics business. The SAP module EH&S (Environment, Health & Safety) was successfully installed in 2015 to ensure compliance with the increasing legal demands for labeling of hazardous materials in the national and inter national transport environment.

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At Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese, production activities last year were focused on the start of construction of a new line for cheesecake, gateaux, crumble cake and similar products. Commissioning is scheduled for July 2016. This creates the conditions for the market entry of chilled baked products, especially in the UK market. In addition, the company invested in a new bread rolls line to be able to meet the rising demand.

As part of the continuous improvement program “Conditions”, numerous production processes were optimized at the Mettingen plant. Work focused on increasing the dosage precision for gateaux and cakes with the help of the Six Sigma methodology and determining optimum settings for machines and plants using statistical trial planning. In addition, the company was able to implement partial automation processes on many flexible production lines based on principles of simple automation.

Marketing and salesIn the Dr. Oetker food range, numerous products are adapted to the typical tastes in the country concerned in order to take account of what customers want. In the case of pizza, global management of the international brands plays a significant role. As a result, decision- making processes are efficiently structured and the launch and marketing of innovations are accelerated. In the chilled product sector, Dr. Oetker has both global products and concepts on the one hand, and ranges adapted to national needs on the other. Innovation processes and knowledge transfer are secured by marketing teams in all areas and form a key element of the entire marketing organization.

Dr. Oetker’s sales activities are positioned decentrally. Sales are organized specifically for the various countries and thus meet the local needs of its customers. They are divided based on the overarching target groups into retail and professional customers. The potential of the categories worked on by Dr. Oetker is exploited through professional category management and shopper marketing. Studies on customer satisfaction and the long-term partnership with all leading retailers document the leading role in the markets served.

The Martin Braun Group markets its products worldwide via wholesalers and retailers, bakeries, confectioners and industrial companies. The “German crafts trade” and “ German industry” sectors were merged under one management team in Hanover last year.

In 2015, Coppenrath & Wiese received external awards from the magazines “Rundschau für den Lebensmittelhandel” (Bestseller 2015 – Lust auf Kuchen Erdbeer-Frischkäse), “Lebensmittel Praxis”(Hit 2015 – Cafeteria fein & sahnig [Tiefkühlkost, süß] und Laugengebäck [Tiefkühlkost, pikant]) and the “Lebensmittel Zeitung” (Top Marke 2015 – Cafeteria fein & sahnig).

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Research and development, new productsInnovations are the guarantee for growth and success at Dr. Oetker. Consumer accep-tance and trust in the quality of the products set the standard for new products and continuous improvement of the existing product range. An international team of highly motivated and outstandingly qualified employees accompanies the products through-out their entire lifecycle through three main processes: ideas management, product development and quality assurance. Trends are thus identified, evaluated and, where applicable, converted into new products or product ranges at the earliest possible stage.

Product development at Dr. Oetker is divided into four product range assortments: ambient food, frozen food, chilled products and professional. Dr. Oetker builds on inno-vations: the construction of a new building for research and development began in Bielefeld during the reporting year, as did the technology development center “4U” in Wittenburg, where international teams from various Dr. Oetker locations will in the future develop and trial new technologies and manufacturing methods for dough-based Dr. Oetker products on a project-specific basis. Modern laboratories, extended pilot plants, experimental technologies, shorter transport routes and more intensive commu-nication will accelerate the product development processes and strengthen interna-tional cooperation even further.

The significant points of intersection between product development and quality assurance are the marketing department for joint project implementation, purchasing, which procures raw materials that meet specifications, and the engineers and employees at the plants, who implement the new technologies and products. The research and develop-ment department will continue to address the constantly increasing demand from our customers for data transparency with the help of a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure.

Sustainability issues were also emphasized more strongly in the reporting year. For example, the goals of more sustainable procurement, reducing additives or even elimi-nating raw materials regarded as critical were accorded higher priority. The first suc-cesses include the facts that palm oil is now being procured only from RSPO-certified sources (RSPO = Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) and that use of additives has completely stopped in two main pizza product ranges, thus meeting a desire that is wide-spread among consumers.

With the launch of the “Veggie Pizza”, Dr. Oetker is supporting the demand from many consumers for vegetarian food. There are also attractive new varieties in the pizza ranges “Ristorante”, “Pizzaburger”, “Die Ofenfrische” and “Tradizionale”. The company succeeded in reducing salt content still further, without accepting compromises in quality or having to use salt substitute products. New, contemporary product segments

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were introduced in the food sector with small, ready-to-eat square cakes and on-trend desserts. In addition, the expansion of the new varieties of “Roasted Müsli” and the Muffins baking mix and the launch of the “Fondantdecke” are particularly worthy of mention. In the chilled products sector, the Paula pudding segment was expanded with the launch of “Paula Grieß” with flakes of chocolate or vanilla pudding. Further-more, the company succeeded in reducing the sugar content of the Paula puddings without compromising on flavor. In addition, the puddings segment was expanded with the introduction of new pudding varieties with custard.

Dr. Oetker relies on a decentralized organization – with exacting, uniform standards for the individual national companies. Accordingly, in 36 countries the processes are certified in accordance with ISO 9001 standards. 22 production plants have been awarded the ISO 22000 certificate for food safety.

Through an integral product review across the entire value chain, the Martin Braun Group ensures a customer-oriented offering of success-assured baking ingredients whilst complying with the requirements of food law. In 2015, the activities were focused on optimum support for sales in a highly competitive market environment. The significance of customer satisfaction and success-assured baking ingredients is especially high during economically difficult times. So the aspiration of the research and development department is to achieve quality and excellence across the board. Besides assured success, speed is the decisive factor in product development. Last year, therefore, the focus was mainly on the development and optimization of customer-specific products. These are often then included in the Group’s standard range.

A new production line for fatty creams was installed at the Martin Braun site in Hanover. The entire product portfolio consists of (confectionery) creams, ice cream pastes, “Variegatos” (an ideal cream for marbling and refining neutral ice cream varieties), top-pings and ice cream glazes. A new range of fillings with four initial varieties (caramel, pistachio, white chocolate and dark chocolate) was developed for this line, which consists of ready-to-use creams that are added directly to desserts or baked products and have 20% crunchy ingredients.

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Business Divisions

Within the Martin Braun Group, new products were also developed in the standard range. These include, among others, the cream binding agent Alaska-express salt- caramel plus chocolate decoration, as well as a ready-to-use salt-caramel-cream, waffle mix, Le Gourmet fruit purees, mousse au chocolat, Variegato Chocomilky & Cereals, Agrano Montana Fresh and Artisano Kürbis Deluxe.

At the Agrano site in Switzerland, an autoclave line was put into operation in 2015 for production of the new Agrano product range. Artisano is a grain mix with integrated, slowly risen dough for producing traditional bread that keeps for a remarkably long time and is completely free of additives. In addition, two new products, Artisano Dinkel and Artisano Hafer, were added to the standard range.

The Martin Braun Group also established a quality management system in accordance with ISO 9001 at Agrano in Switzerland in 2015. The company was successfully in-cluded in the certification. The principal objective of certification is to allow the sites of the Martin Braun Group to grow together in order to increase customer satisfaction and food safety through uniform organizational structures and harmonized processes.

Coppenrath & Wiese successfully tested chilled cheesecake on the UK market last year. The results of the trial run were very positive. They open up the opportunity for the company to enter the market in the sector of chilled bakery products, which promises new growth potential and the chance to reach new target groups. In another project, over 3,400 dessert creations were produced using a “dessert configurator” together with the Facebook community. The Facebook fans then chose the 20 best creations and, out of this selection, an expert jury – including a blogger and a market researcher among others – then picked the winning dessert “Banane loves Schoko” from Bianka. The fan dessert was launched in the fall of 2015 and sold successfully.

Business development

KEY DATA 2014 2015

Sales revenue (in EUR million) 2,622 2,990

Adjusted sales revenue (in EUR million) 2,569 2,606

Investments (in EUR million) 132 153

Employees 12,790 14,478

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The Food Division generated sales revenue of EUR 2,990 million in financial year 2015. As a result, the division was able to increase revenues by 14.0% versus the previous year, above all due to the acquisition of Coppenrath & Wiese. Adjusted for scope of con-solidation and exchange rate effects, the revenue growth amounted to 1.4%. Invest-ments amounted to EUR 153 million and were thus EUR 21 million above those of the previous year. The headcount rose in the same period by 13.2% to 14,478 employees, this too above all due to the acquisitions.

The Dr. Oetker national companies developed differently in the previous financial year. When compared to the previous year, the companies were able, as expected, to increase their total revenues by 10.2%. Adjusted for acquisitions and exchange rate effects, the growth amounted to 1.3%. Especially pleasing is the fact that Dr. Oetker was able to grow over-proportionally through organic growth, especially in Region 3A (Asia, Africa and Australia). At EUR 117 million, the investments were above the already-high level of the previous year. The focus was on expanding the pizza production capacities in Europe and North America, and the construction of the new research and develop-ment center in Bielefeld.

Overall, the strategic product ranges in the sectors of food, frozen pizza, fresh desserts and professional developed positively. In the ambient food sector, Dr. Oetker was able to build clearly on its international presence. Following the acquisition of the Romanian baked products competitor Alex in March 2015 and of the Italian decorating products manufacturer Rebecchi, at the end of 2014, the food markets consolidated in those coun-tries. With the acquisition, completed in March 2015, of D’Gari, the Mexican market leader in jelly desserts, the company succeeded in entering the Central American mar-ket for powdered desserts. The launch of the Dr. Oetker product range in Australia meant that the Food Division is now represented on all continents. Bakery products and decorating items still enjoyed particular popularity among consumers. Across Europe, these segments addressed the trend towards home baking and decorating and contributed to the positive developments in this area. In addition, the cupcakes augmented the range of baking mixes of the “Kleine Kuchen”. In the intensely com-petitive pizza market, Dr. Oetker was able to build on its market shares. Given the enduring convenience trends and numerous new variants of the various sub-brand con-cepts, growth was significantly extended. One contributory factor was the continua-tion of the international success story of Pizza Ristorante, still one of the most success-ful pizza concepts. The market received an additional boost through the launch of vegetarian pizzas. The company was also able to build market shares in North America through the complete and successful integration of the McCain pizza business. The range of fresh desserts also developed positively, especially based on the growth of the strategic brands Paula and Marmorette. The brand concept Dr. Oetker Professional is

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aimed at the needs and requirements of the professional user in the out-of-home market. This range was able to perform strongly in the intensely competitive market in Germany and build further on its market position.

Despite numerous negative effects, the Martin Braun Group just about reached the good level of the previous year in 2015. The crisis in Russia, for example, resulted as expected in a decline in sales in Ukraine and Russia. Positive boosts in sales came in particular from the Wolf ButterBack frozen product range and the mini-cake concept MySweeties (cakes in a cup) and the fruit purees. The French company Capfruit and the Dutch company Delite developed outstandingly, as did the national units in Italy, Hungary and Turkey. The German business overall developed positively in all areas of the product range despite the difficult market environment; customer- oriented product and marketing concepts were successfully implemented on the market. This is espe-cially pleasing given that the number of craft bakeries in the German market is declining. The significance of organic products is growing in all segments of the market and the Martin Braun Group has positioned itself well for this development. A strong market position was secured with the Agrano organic yeast products.

The acquisition of the family company Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese on June 30, 2015 brought with it access to the market for frozen gateaux, cakes, sheet cakes, desserts and bread rolls. Coppenrath & Wiese is market leader in these market segments in Germany. The growth of the brand is especially positive here. Besides the core seg-ment of cream gateaux, its cakes, sheet cakes and bread rolls contributed to the growth. The sales revenue accounted for in the consolidated financial statements for the second half of the year was thus very pleasing and helped the Food Division to achieve a signifi-cant increase in total sales revenue versus the previous year.

The FrischeParadies Group was sold to the Swiss Transgourmet Group with economic effect on October 31, 2015. Until that point in time, the revenue and profit contributions of the companies were consolidated within the Group.

ForecastFor the financial year 2016, Dr. Oetker is expecting additional growth boosts through the complete integration of the companies acquired in 2015 and, overall, a positive devel-opment in revenue in the single-digit range.

The Martin Braun Group will continue to concentrate both on the core market of Germany and on developing the international growth markets further. The clear focus on new strategic areas of growth will be continued and – when compared to the pre-vious financial year – a moderate revenue growth is expected again in 2016.

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Coppenrath & Wiese is still anticipating good conditions for financial year 2016 and expects slightly higher sales revenue. In addition, the company is planning implemen-tation of its internationalization concept in 2016 and a continuous expansion of capacities.

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Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages Division

1,966euros in sales

million

2015

1,966 million

2014

1,929 million

+ 1.9%

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radeberger-gruppe.de The Radeberger Group is Germany’s largest private brewery group and forms the Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages Division of the Oetker Group. Besides 14 brewing locations, the Radeberger Group also comprises two sites for pro-duction of nonalcoholic beverages in Germany and, besides the Radeberger Pilsner it lends its name to, includes numerous brands of beer, such as Jever, Clausthaler, Schöfferhofer Weizen, Allgäuer Büble Bier, Ur-Krostitzer, Stutt-garter Hofbräu, Berliner Pilsner and Freiberger. In addition to that, there is also the mineral water brand Original Selters and the nonalcoholic refresher drinks Bionade and Ti. The Radeberger Group also holds the concession for production and sales of Pepsi Cola and sales of PepsiCo brands to bars, restaurants and stores. Apart from Germany, the products are marketed in more than 70 coun-tries in all key distribution channels. International beers, such as Guinness, Kilkenny and, since the beginning of 2016, the Mexican brand Sol are distrib-uted exclusively by the Radeberger Group in Germany.

With a clear belief in regional presence and brands with a powerful emotional charge, the Radeberger Group cultivates German beer and beverage diversity and is actively devel oping the German beer and beverages market with an innovative business model. In addition to its own production and sales sites, its own logistics, companies in beverage wholesaling and cash-and-carry stores round off the portfolio of the Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages Division.

As part of the Oetker Group, the brewing group is striving to protect and expand its market leadership in the highly fragmented German beer market. The group of compa-nies is thus aligned organizationally toward growth – through organic growth as well as acquisitions. With 13 million hectoliters of beverage production, the Radeberger Group is already the biggest beer producer in the intensely competitive German market.

ProcurementIn recent years, the organizational structure of purchasing was adjusted gradually by centralizing the procurement functions in Central Purchasing in Frankfurt am Main. This process was successfully completed at the end of 2014, so there were no major changes in 2015.

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radeberger-gruppe.de The Radeberger Group is Germany’s largest private brewery group and forms the Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages Division of the Oetker Group. Besides 14 brewing locations, the Radeberger Group also comprises two sites for pro-duction of nonalcoholic beverages in Germany and, besides the Radeberger Pilsner it lends its name to, includes numerous brands of beer, such as Jever, Clausthaler, Schöfferhofer Weizen, Allgäuer Büble Bier, Ur-Krostitzer, Stutt-garter Hofbräu, Berliner Pilsner and Freiberger. In addition to that, there is also the mineral water brand Original Selters and the nonalcoholic refresher drinks Bionade and Ti. The Radeberger Group also holds the concession for production and sales of Pepsi Cola and sales of PepsiCo brands to bars, restaurants and stores. Apart from Germany, the products are marketed in more than 70 coun-tries in all key distribution channels. International beers, such as Guinness, Kilkenny and, since the beginning of 2016, the Mexican brand Sol are distrib-uted exclusively by the Radeberger Group in Germany.

With a clear belief in regional presence and brands with a powerful emotional charge, the Radeberger Group cultivates German beer and beverage diversity and is actively devel oping the German beer and beverages market with an innovative business model. In addition to its own production and sales sites, its own logistics, companies in beverage wholesaling and cash-and-carry stores round off the portfolio of the Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages Division.

As part of the Oetker Group, the brewing group is striving to protect and expand its market leadership in the highly fragmented German beer market. The group of compa-nies is thus aligned organizationally toward growth – through organic growth as well as acquisitions. With 13 million hectoliters of beverage production, the Radeberger Group is already the biggest beer producer in the intensely competitive German market.

ProcurementIn recent years, the organizational structure of purchasing was adjusted gradually by centralizing the procurement functions in Central Purchasing in Frankfurt am Main. This process was successfully completed at the end of 2014, so there were no major changes in 2015.


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Production and logisticsThe Radeberger Group implemented numerous optimization projects and certifications in production in 2015. At the mineral water plant in Löhnberg, for example, production and bottling of Pepsi products (Pepsi Cola, Pepsi Light, Pepsi Max, Mirinda, Schwip Schwap, 7Up) began. A new hot water reservoir with a capacity of 227 cubic meters was installed and put into operation in Jever. Individual bottling units were renewed in Berlin and a bottle washing machine and an empty bottle inspection machine were acquired in Krostitz. The new machines are linked via new conveyors in a new arena setup. In addition, two additional cylindroconical fermentation tanks were set up to cope with the pleasing growth of the Ur-Krostitzer brand. The technical / logistics pro-ject “PROST” was completed in Frankfurt am Main, as part of which, among other things, a new water reservoir to store brewing water was put into operation. Because of the increasing focus on food safety, and following in the footsteps of the breweries in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main, the Jever and Dortmund breweries also subjected themselves to first-time certification in accordance with DIN ISO 22000 / FSSC. The Ostheim site (Bionade) was integrated into all the technical systems of the Radeberger Group. The centrifuge systems at the Allgäuer Brauhaus were adapted to meet the new requirements for dry hopping and the Freiberger Brauhaus was certified for the first time in 2015 in accordance with the energy management standard DIN ISO 50001.

In the logistics sector, the repositioning of logistics continued with the introduction of a warehouse management system, which is now also in operation in Bischofsheim and Frankfurt am Main. So the conditions have now been created at all sites of the Radeberger Group to exchange delivery notes with customers electronically. Furthermore, after completion of the new warehouse, integration of driverless transport systems in the loading process and the newly built pallet positioning system, the modernization of the loading system was completed in Frankfurt am Main with the commissioning of the loading zone. In addition, both the display system and the repacking line were renewed in Frankfurt am Main, so the time needed to respond to urgent customer orders has been reduced significantly. In Krostitz and Jever, the processes to sort empty packaging were further improved through the introduction of modern sorting robots. The in-depth sorting of the empties that is now possible is resulting in higher sorting quality which – besides an improvement in sorting performance with low use of resources – is also leading to more effective bottle recycling of external and mixed glass with higher yields. The commissioning of the semi-automatic repacking line at the Bionade plant in Ostheim is optimizing the carton repacking performance significantly and is also creating more ergonomic working conditions for the employees there.

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Marketing and salesThe Radeberger Group sells its products worldwide via the wholesale and retail sectors and the hospitality industry. The Radeberger Group’s party and event business, which manages around 10,000 events annually, is managed nationally. With effect on Janu-ary 1, 2015, the Radeberger Group acquired the exclusive rights for the manu facture and sales of the Pepsi, Mirinda, 7Up, Schwip Schwap and Punica Apfelschorle brands. Operationally, the cooperation began for the hospitality industry and cash-and-carry beverage stores in twelve federal states in north, east and west Germany. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg followed in January 2016. In these states, the Radeberger Group has acquired the exclusive sales rights for the Pepsi portfolio from AB InBev and its subsidiary MGD. The field organization was adjusted for this purpose: the sales unit “Special Channels Catering” now manages the activities for Bionade, Selters & Wein and the Pepsi brands.

In a dwindling market, it is increasingly all about convincing customers through quality. Against this background, the extensive quality management regime started in 2014 was continued and further refined in 2015 too, through the introduction of quality days for the entire field sales organization to deepen their knowledge about quality, the development of an individual quality box for nonalcoholic beverages customers and the implementation of an electronic sales manual developed for high-quality customer presentation. At the traditional Tucher brewery in Nuremberg, the sales organization was strengthened by creating the new position of “Support for the filling stations and service areas”. The newly established position of “Social Media Support” addresses the increasing importance of online communication channels.

Research and development, new productsThe product range of Schöfferhofer Weizen mixes was expanded with the most success-ful market-wide product launch of the year by the “Grapefruit Alkoholfrei” variety. In the quality assurance / product development department, the development process for a gluten-free beer was completed. Production and bottling will take place in the first quarter of 2016. In Rostock and Berlin, a naturally cloudy Radler variety was de-veloped that is free of sweeteners and preservatives. At Bionade, the product range was expanded with the “Zitrone-Bergamotte” variety. In the beverages wholesale sector, an online ordering system was developed and implemented at Wigem. A gradual rollout to the other beverage wholesale subsidiaries is planned for 2016. At the Tucher brewery in Nuremberg, planning for a craft-based micro-brewery for production of specialties and small batches took place during the reporting year. The installation of the product advisor terminal begun in 2014 was also completed in 2015 in the branches of Getränke Hoffmann. In the Freiberger Brauhaus, the first documented mention of brewing in Freiberg in 1266 will be celebrated in 2016. For this reason, and following the trend towards more specialties, the new beer variety “Freiberger Kellerbier” was launched in December 2015 in a 0.5-liter returnable bottle and a new crate.

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Marketing and salesThe Radeberger Group sells its products worldwide via the wholesale and retail sectors and the hospitality industry. The Radeberger Group’s party and event business, which manages around 10,000 events annually, is managed nationally. With effect on Janu-ary 1, 2015, the Radeberger Group acquired the exclusive rights for the manu facture and sales of the Pepsi, Mirinda, 7Up, Schwip Schwap and Punica Apfelschorle brands. Operationally, the cooperation began for the hospitality industry and cash-and-carry beverage stores in twelve federal states in north, east and west Germany. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg followed in January 2016. In these states, the Radeberger Group has acquired the exclusive sales rights for the Pepsi portfolio from AB InBev and its subsidiary MGD. The field organization was adjusted for this purpose: the sales unit “Special Channels Catering” now manages the activities for Bionade, Selters & Wein and the Pepsi brands.

In a dwindling market, it is increasingly all about convincing customers through quality. Against this background, the extensive quality management regime started in 2014 was continued and further refined in 2015 too, through the introduction of quality days for the entire field sales organization to deepen their knowledge about quality, the development of an individual quality box for nonalcoholic beverages customers and the implementation of an electronic sales manual developed for high-quality customer presentation. At the traditional Tucher brewery in Nuremberg, the sales organization was strengthened by creating the new position of “Support for the filling stations and service areas”. The newly established position of “Social Media Support” addresses the increasing importance of online communication channels.

Research and development, new productsThe product range of Schöfferhofer Weizen mixes was expanded with the most success-ful market-wide product launch of the year by the “Grapefruit Alkoholfrei” variety. In the quality assurance / product development department, the development process for a gluten-free beer was completed. Production and bottling will take place in the first quarter of 2016. In Rostock and Berlin, a naturally cloudy Radler variety was de-veloped that is free of sweeteners and preservatives. At Bionade, the product range was expanded with the “Zitrone-Bergamotte” variety. In the beverages wholesale sector, an online ordering system was developed and implemented at Wigem. A gradual rollout to the other beverage wholesale subsidiaries is planned for 2016. At the Tucher brewery in Nuremberg, planning for a craft-based micro-brewery for production of specialties and small batches took place during the reporting year. The installation of the product advisor terminal begun in 2014 was also completed in 2015 in the branches of Getränke Hoffmann. In the Freiberger Brauhaus, the first documented mention of brewing in Freiberg in 1266 will be celebrated in 2016. For this reason, and following the trend towards more specialties, the new beer variety “Freiberger Kellerbier” was launched in December 2015 in a 0.5-liter returnable bottle and a new crate.


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KEY DATA 2014 2015




Employees 5,757 5,894

The Radeberger Group has developed well in an intensely competitive and demanding market environment. In line with the strategy, the Group was able to increase both output and sales revenue. Beverage output grew by 1.2% in financial year 2015. Sales revenue grew likewise across the Group by 1.9% to EUR 1,966 million. Adjusted sales revenue rose to EUR 1,963 in the reporting year. Investments ran to EUR 97 million. The headcount has increased by 2.4% to 5,894 employees.

After 2014, which was marked by the Soccer World Cup and exceptional weather that boosted beer consumption, the German beer industry found itself in a difficult environ-ment in 2015, in which the brewery group was able to maintain its position well thanks to its proven portfolio strategy. Based on its continued focus on national and regional premium beers and the Group’s positioning close to the market, it has succeeded in reacting flexibly to changing trends.

The market segment of brands sold across Germany registered a pleasing growth in revenue. The drivers of this trend were the flagship brands Radeberger Pilsner and the top-fermented Schöfferhofer Weizen. Schöfferhofer in particular again displayed a clearly positive trend in the previous financial year after a number of demanding years. Contributing to this were Weizen mix drinks such as Schöfferhofer Grapefruit and Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Alkoholfrei. A still-increasing interest among consumers in special beers helped the segment of specialties made by the brewing group that are sold nationally to record a pleasing trend. The international imported brands of the Radeberger Group also grew again. Driven above all by the Guinness, Kilkenny and Corona Extra brands, and supported by the successfully expanded segment of craft beers, the brewing group reported higher sales in this area too in 2015.

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The regional premium brands of the Radeberger Group developed disproportionately well again in 2015. They continued to benefit from the enduring enthusiasm among con-sumers for strong, credible and regional brands. The segment was able to take advan-tage of this resurgence of regional identities and values, and grew significantly in terms of sales in the previous financial year. The main drivers of this above-average trend were the Berliner premium brands (Berliner Kindl, Berliner Pilsner), the Ur- Krostitzer and Freiberger beers from Saxony, the Dortmunder premium brands (Dortmunder Kronen and Brinkhoff’s No. 1) and the Allgäuer Büble Bier, which is enjoying growing popularity.

The Radeberger Group also benefits from the demand for German beers abroad. It was able to further expand the export business and again realize a significant revenue growth in the double-digit range. The export business with the USA and Canada developed particularly well in 2015. Of the portfolio sold internationally, Schöfferhofer Weizen was especially in demand, again driven by the Weizen mix Schöfferhofer Grapefruit, Radeberger Pilsner and the Dortmunder brand DAB.

The Radeberger Group’s nonalcoholic beverages were able to exploit the above-average temperatures of the summer months in 2015 and grew significantly in terms of reve-nue. This positive trend was bolstered in particular by the mineral water brand Original Selters and successful expansion in sales of the refreshing tea Ti, which was able to meet the expectations placed on it. In addition, the successful start of the cooperation with PepsiCo Germany made a positive contribution to revenue developments in the reporting year. Bionade also proved itself in the previous financial year by successfully securing its market shares.

ForecastThe Radeberger Group is well positioned and confident of achieving the targets set for 2016 in still-challenging conditions. Overall, it expects slightly higher revenues. The portfolio of international brands will be boosted with Sol and Captain Morgan Mutineer. Furthermore, the Radeberger Group intends to also strengthen the national and re-gional brands still further. With the nonalcoholic beverages, it is a matter of further consolidating the position that has already been achieved.

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The regional premium brands of the Radeberger Group developed disproportionately well again in 2015. They continued to benefit from the enduring enthusiasm among con-sumers for strong, credible and regional brands. The segment was able to take advan-tage of this resurgence of regional identities and values, and grew significantly in terms of sales in the previous financial year. The main drivers of this above-average trend were the Berliner premium brands (Berliner Kindl, Berliner Pilsner), the Ur- Krostitzer and Freiberger beers from Saxony, the Dortmunder premium brands (Dortmunder Kronen and Brinkhoff’s No. 1) and the Allgäuer Büble Bier, which is enjoying growing popularity.

The Radeberger Group also benefits from the demand for German beers abroad. It was able to further expand the export business and again realize a significant revenue growth in the double-digit range. The export business with the USA and Canada developed particularly well in 2015. Of the portfolio sold internationally, Schöfferhofer Weizen was especially in demand, again driven by the Weizen mix Schöfferhofer Grapefruit, Radeberger Pilsner and the Dortmunder brand DAB.

The Radeberger Group’s nonalcoholic beverages were able to exploit the above-average temperatures of the summer months in 2015 and grew significantly in terms of reve-nue. This positive trend was bolstered in particular by the mineral water brand Original Selters and successful expansion in sales of the refreshing tea Ti, which was able to meet the expectations placed on it. In addition, the successful start of the cooperation with PepsiCo Germany made a positive contribution to revenue developments in the reporting year. Bionade also proved itself in the previous financial year by successfully securing its market shares.

ForecastThe Radeberger Group is well positioned and confident of achieving the targets set for 2016 in still-challenging conditions. Overall, it expects slightly higher revenues. The portfolio of international brands will be boosted with Sol and Captain Morgan Mutineer. Furthermore, the Radeberger Group intends to also strengthen the national and re-gional brands still further. With the nonalcoholic beverages, it is a matter of further consolidating the position that has already been achieved.


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Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits Division

euros in sales

million689

2014

697 million

2015

689 million

– 1.2%

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henkell-sektkellerei.de As a group of companies with a history extending back to 1832, Henkell stands for the most-exported German sparkling wine brands and for the Henkell & Co. Group, which operates successfully with its own companies in the sparkling wine, wine and spirits market in 20 countries and exports to more than 100 nations worldwide. The portfolio includes both familiar sparkling wine brands, such as Fürst von Metternich, Henkell Trocken and Söhnlein Brillant, and spirits such as Wodka Gorbatschow. The Group is headquartered at the historic Henkell building in Wiesbaden. Within the Oetker Group, it forms the Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits Division.

The Henkell & Co. Group is represented in Germany with three production and sales sites. The production for all German sparkling wine brands distributed in Germany and abroad is carried out at the original Henkell & Co. plant in Wiesbaden. The produc-tion of the spirits produced in Germany is centralized in the Kuemmerling plant in Bodenheim near Mainz, while Schloss Johannisberger Riesling wines and wine from the G.H. von Mumm’schen Weingut are grown and harvested on the Johannisberg in the Rhine Gorge.

In addition, there are production and sales sites in 19 other countries, primarily in Western and Eastern Europe. The Henkell & Co. Group offers all major varieties of sparkling wine from its own production facilities. Besides well-known German spar-kling wine brands, the portfolio also includes its own champagne and crémant varieties from France, prosecco from Italy and cava from Spain. In addition, there are sparkling wine brands from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine that have been exceptionally well established for decades.

Henkell & Co. is the number one for sparkling wine in Austria, Sweden, Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Canada, for nonalcoholic sparkling wine in France and for prosecco in the USA. Henkell & Co. is also market leader in the spirits segment – for vodka in Germany, for gin in Poland and for brandy in Slovakia. In addition, Henkell & Co. leads the market for wine in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

ProcurementIn the 2015 reporting year, the focus in the department of procurement at Henkell & Co. was on development and implementation of the Group-wide risk management regime. All approved suppliers to the Group have been analyzed and evaluated, and are subject to regular monitoring.

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Production and logisticsIn the sector of production and logistics, particular attention was paid in financial year 2015 to the analysis and improvement of total asset efficiency, optimization of capacities and quality assurance for products. To improve asset availability, a regular training program was introduced as an example for the Group at the Wiesbaden plant, which minimizes the setup times on the bottling lines. In addition, the plant maintenance was converted to an integrated approach, so that plant operators can now carry out the maintenance together with specialized technicians. At the Bodenheim plant, the Pott and Scharlachberg brands, which were previously produced externally, were integrated into the company’s own production, which is based there, and the tank space was extended to enable better utilization of the plant’s capacities. Not least in order to secure product quality, the drinking water network at the Wiesbaden plant was overhauled and hoses for products were replaced by fixed pipes in stainless steel. The high-bay warehouse in Mainz-Kastel was expanded as a logistics hub and, besides Germany, now serves the Benelux countries, Switzerland and Austria, as well as overseas exports.

Marketing and salesThe Henkell & Co. Group sells its products worldwide via wholesale, retail and catering channels. In the reporting year, marketing and sales activities focused on the com-pany’s core brands and supported them with classic advertising, point of sale and PR activities. Fürst von Metternich, Henkell, Mionetto and Wodka Gorbatschow are just as active with TV advertising as Törley, Bohemia and Angelli.

In addition, the digital communication for the Group’s brands was extended further. A digital strategy was developed for this purpose, which aims to achieve stronger networking of all marketing and PR activities with all relevant digital touchpoints and use of online communication as well as broad-reach media. In order to ensure better management of the international processes, international brand teams were also set up for Henkell, Mionetto and i heart. The centralization of exports, so as to avoid redun-dancies in handling international markets, has largely been completed.

Research and development, new productsThe Henkell & Co. Group builds on the innovative power of the brands and works constantly to develop them further. The highest quality requirements apply to the materials used in the products. In addition, special projects are carried out with uni-versities, for example in the areas of product development and sensors.

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In 2015, the extensive reworking of the Henkell & Co. brands was completed with the introduction of relaunches for Söhnlein Brillant and Wodka Gorbatschow, as well as new designs for Champagne Alfred Gratien and Crémant Gratien & Meyer. There were new product launches across the Group for, among others, Henkell Alkoholfrei, Henkell Blanc de Blancs in white lacquered bottles, Mionetto il HUGO! Rosé, Mionetto Prestige Collection, Mionetto Avantgarde Collection, Mionetto Cuvée Frizzante in a 0.2-liter aluminum bottle, Bohemia Sekt La Fleur, Avanti Hugo, Chapel Hill Spumante and Gorbatschow & Lemon, as well as Gorbatschow & Orange in the 0.33-liter slim can.


KEY DATA 2014 2015

Sales revenue (in EUR million) 697 689

Adjusted sales revenue (in EUR million) 697 685



The Group generated revenues of EUR 689 million in 2015 and was thus 1.2% below the previous year. Germany accounted for EUR 284 million of this amount (previous year: EUR 313 million) and the international business for EUR 405 million (previous year: EUR 384 million). Adjusted for acquisition and exchange rate effects, sales revenue amounted to EUR 685 million. The investments of the Henkell & Co. Group ran to EUR 15 million versus EUR 16 million in the previous year. The headcount changed during the reporting year to 1,972 (previous year: 2,007).

Price increases for major brands in Germany with inevitable falls in volume are compen-sated for by positive international business in North America and Western Europe. The increasing focus on premium products in Germany and abroad resulted in a 2.5% rise in average revenue per bottle.

Whilst the premium sparkling wine brands in Germany such as Fürst von Metternich and Menger-Krug, as well as the prosecco Mionetto and the champagne Alfred Gratien, de-veloped positively, there were also numerous other positive developments internationally.

The engines for growth in Western Europe were the Italian prosecco Mionetto and the British wine brand i heart. The two brands also formed the basis for the dispropor-tionately high growth of the subsidiary Copestick Murray in the United Kingdom. In addition, Henkell & Co. Benelux and the Spanish subsidiary Cavas Hill also contrib-uted to the positive development in Western Europe. The business in Eastern Europe is largely driven by the strong subsidiaries Bohemia in the Czech Republic, Törley in Hungary and Hubert in Slovakia, which each hold more than a 50% market share in

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those countries. Bohemia achieved a particularly positive result with double-digit growth, as did Törley on its domestic sparkling wine market. The business in the USA contrib uted decisively to this result.

The wine business of the Henkell & Co. Group was especially pleasing in 2015. The British wine brand, i heart, contributed disproportionately to this and grew at a double- digit rate, as did the renowned Weingut Schloss Johannisberg in the Rhine Gorge. The wine brands BB and Szent István (Hungary), Habánské Sklepy and Víno Mikulov (Czech Republic) and the Vitis wines from Slovakia were also successful.

The core brands in the spirits sector developed differently, but overall just under the previ-ous year’s level. The star in the spirits segment is undisputedly Wodka Gorbatschow, market leader in Germany since the mid-70s, sales of which, after double-digit growth in the previous year, fell slightly due to a price increase. The market leader in Germany is augmented by Kuemmerling Kräuterlikör, Pott rum and Bismarck Doppelkorn, and internationally also by Poland’s gin market leader, Lubuski gin, the leading brandy in Slovakia, Karpatské Brandy, and the Romanian vermouth Angelli.

ForecastWith the market generally stagnating, the Henkell & Co. Group is expecting competitive business in Germany in 2016 as well. Based on the core market in Germany, the Group plans to develop further both nationally and internationally. The focus is above all on the premium brands, which will continue to be actively promoted with con-stantly updated communication linked with promising innovations. Growth at an inter-national level will be targeted, in particular, in connection with the Henkell, Mionetto and i heart brands. In Eastern Europe, the Group is aiming to strengthen its brands and market shares further. Overall, the division expects slightly higher revenue, with the economic conditions remaining constant.

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Shipping Division

2015

6,057 million

2014

5,186 million

+ 16.8%

6,057euros in sales

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hamburgsud.com The Hamburg Süd Group forms the Shipping Division. As a transport logistics specialist operating internationally, it is one of the world’s ten biggest con-tainer shipping lines when measured by the capacity of the ships it operates (625,000 TEU as of December 2015). With more than 180 ships – from con-tainer ships and bulk carriers up to product tankers – the Hamburg Süd Group is one of the key providers for global ocean transport and individual logistics solutions. It is represented worldwide with around 250 offices, including 100 of its own.

The Hamburg Süd Group’s core business is container liner shipping with all pre- and post-shipment logistical services, with Hamburg Süd as a German carrier and Aliança as a Brazilian shipping line. They are supplemented by the container liner activities of the Chilean shipping line Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica S.A. (CCNI), which were acquired and integrated in 2015. In addition, the Group operates in the bulk goods and product tanker business under the names of Rudolf A. Oetker (RAO), Furness Withy Chartering and Aliança Bulk (Aliabulk), as well as a special service provider for business travel and cruises with Hamburg Süd Reiseagentur.

Starting out from the classic north-south trades, Hamburg Süd container shipping has developed to become a global provider of logistics services in the following trades:

Europe–South America (east and west coasts)Europe–Caribbean / Central AmericaEurope–North America (east and west coasts)Europe–Australia / New ZealandBrazilian cabotage / Mercosur / Conosur (east and west coasts of South America)Inter-America (east and west coasts of North and South America / US Gulf Coast, Mexico, Caribbean)Asia–South America (east and west coasts)Asia–Europe (Northern Europe and Mediterranean)Asia–North America (east and west coasts)Asia–India / PakistanAsia–Australia / New ZealandAustralia / New Zealand–North America (east and west coasts)Northern Europe–MediterraneanNorthern Europe–India / Pakistan

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Procurement processesThe new processes in purchasing that were developed at head office and in the regions at the turn of the year 2014 / 2015 were introduced and continuously improved over the course of 2015 in order to leverage potential cost savings. Regional and central processes were standardized and geared to one another in the areas of purchasing intermodal, terminal and port services, and in the procurement of heavy oil and containers.

LogisticsThe Fleet Operations Center that was opened in February 2015 to optimize deployment of the fleet was expanded further. As a result, the ship operations on the sea passages of the Hamburg Süd Group can be managed much more effectively, so that ships can be operated at lower speeds as evenly as possible. This reduces fuel consumption and guar-antees high schedule reliability. Excellent logistics processes are the basis for the aspiration of Hamburg Süd to operate on the market as a quality carrier. In Decem-ber 2015, Hamburg Süd received the Carrier of the Year Award from DHL Global Forwarding for its excellent customer service, high schedule reliability and competitive freight rates.

Marketing and salesWith around 250 offices worldwide, including over 100 of its own, the Hamburg Süd Group is outstandingly positioned to handle the growing global business – including sales via customer service and management of all logistics, operational and administra-tive processes. The sales and customer service organization was strengthened in the regions of Asia, North America and Europe to support the newly started east-west busi-ness. The liner shipping is operated under the names of Hamburg Süd and Aliança, as well as, since 2015, under the CCNI brand on the trades to and from the west coast of South America.

Research and developmentProgress in ship technology and in ship operations is in the first instance aimed at lowering fuel consumption and emissions. On the new ships of the “Cap San” class, Hamburg Süd uses state-of-the-art environmental technology, which takes the form of optimizing engine performance and hull shapes, as well as making use of common rail systems and modern waste disposal systems. As a result, the fleet of the Hamburg Süd Group was strengthened with modern ships in the reporting year too. The expansion and modernization of Aliança’s cabotage fleet was completed with the putting into service of the “Bartolomeu Dias” and the “Vicente Pinzón” (4,800 TEU). In addition, three new-builds of the “Cap San” class (10,600 TEU) were delivered over the course of 2015. Four ships with a capacity of 3,800 TEU were ordered for delivery in 2017.

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Furthermore, the introduction of a new generation of containers began in 2015: the 500 new containers do not have the usual wooden floor but are equipped with steel floors, which in comparison to floors in wood or bamboo are more consistent in terms of quality and easier to clean, as well as being able to withstand higher point loading and thus being less prone to damage.

The GLOBE project, which serves to replace the operational and administrative IT applications developed over 20 years ago, entered a new phase in 2015 with the rollout of the tariff and quotations module.

After the launch in 2014, the application, which was developed and introduced together with the classification society DNV GL to collect and analyze data from ship operations (GLEM), was successively installed last year on the lion’s share of the company’s own and chartered container ships that are operated worldwide. GLEM is an essential pre-requisite for more effective environmental and fuel management. At the end of 2015, Hamburg Süd was awarded the HANSE GLOBE by “Logistikinitiative Hamburg” for this important contribution to preserving the natural basis of life.


KEY DATA 2014 2015





In an environment marked by strong fluctuations, the Hamburg Süd Group was able to increase its total revenue by 16.8% to EUR 6,057 million. Sales revenue adjusted for currency effects and acquisitions in the Shipping Division ran to EUR 5,097 million in the reporting year. The expenditures for investments amounted to EUR 437 million and was thus higher than the previous year’s level. The headcount increased during the reporting period to 5,960 employees. The rise by 11.2% is primarily due to the expansion of the east-west trades, the acquisition of CCNI and organizational and IT projects.

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The transport volume in the liner business rose when compared to the previous year by 21.5% to 4.1 million TEU (1 TEU = 1 standard 20-foot container). Despite the weakness in the South American economies (especially Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela), the Group was thus able to achieve the volume growth planned for the reporting year. The acquisition of the container liner activities of CCNI, in particular, contributed to this, as did the entry into the east-west trades in cooperation with the United Arab Shipping Company S.A.G. (UASC). Freight rates fell by around 16% because of high overcapacities and competitive pressure. The resulting revenue shortfall could only partially be compensated for through capacity management and cost reductions. A relatively strong US dollar and the sharp fall in the price of heavy oil had a positive impact on the re-sults, but those positive effects could likewise only partially compensate for the revenue shortfalls.

The bulk shipping business was marked by very difficult market conditions. Demand stagnated above all due to China’s much lower raw materials imports, whereas the net fleet growth has risen versus the previous year. Charter rates have fallen significantly as a result. The bulk shipping business missed the results planned for the reporting period by a wide margin and could not achieve the turnaround in trends that it had aimed for.

ForecastAfter the significant growth in the transport volume in liner shipping of around 22% in the elapsed reporting year, Hamburg Süd expects a further increase in the volume for 2016, although only a moderate one when compared to the previous year. The rise is based on the capacities built up last year, which in 2016 will be available for the full year. In addition, the market shares are expected to be maintained and expanded. As the freight rates will probably remain under pressure, the shipping group expects sales revenue to be about the same.

In the present market environment, Hamburg Süd, like most of its competitors, faces a gloomy profits situation. So it will be forced to take further steps for a sustained cost reduction in the coming year too, including lowering fuel consumption and ex-ploiting economies of scale, as well as reducing capacities in individual trades and making further efficiency improvements to processes. One can expect further consoli-dations in the shipping industry in 2016. Any return to acceptable results, however, presupposes that capacities and cargo volumes reach an equilibrium again. The results

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of the shipping group for financial year 2016 depend largely on developments in the global economy and the ability of the industry to adapt to changed conditions. The persisting weakness in bulk shipping, which will remain under pressure in the current year too, will be a burden.

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Other Interests Division

2015

524 million

2014

500 million

524euros in sales

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+ 4.7%

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Other Interests Division

2015

524 million

2014

500 million

524euros in sales

million

+ 4.7%


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Business Divisions

budenheim.comoediv.deoetkercollection.comroland-transport.de

The Other Interests Division combines companies of the Oetker Group that operate in different sectors. This includes Chemische Fabrik Budenheim, which manufactures its products at six sites. The Other Interests Division also in-cludes the Oetker Collection, with four luxury hotels of its own in Germany and France as well as the management of six unique, externally owned hotels at var-ious locations across the globe. OEDIV Oetker Daten- und Informationsverar-beitung, Handelsgesellschaft Sparrenberg, Roland Transport and other compa-nies round off this division and are based in Bielefeld.

The traditional company Budenheim has developed on the global markets to become an internationally leading manufacturer of high-quality phosphates and specialty chemi-cals produced for individual customers, which are marketed in more than 100 countries and are used, among other things, for special technical applications, foodstuffs and pharmaceutical products.

Besides four hotels of its own – the Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa in Baden-Baden, the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris, the Château Saint-Martin & Spa in Vence and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap D’Antibes, six further externally owned grand hotels in Courchevel, London, Marrakesh, São Paolo and on the Seychelles and St. Barths belong to the Oetker Collection and are run by the Oetker Hotel Management Company (OHMC).

OEDIV operates data centers in Germany and offers SAP hosting and numerous other IT services. The concepts and architectures that are deployed meet the highest availability requirements of its customers and are continuously tested and updated.

Handelsgesellschaft Sparrenberg (HGS) combines the conceptual procurement expertise in the Oetker Group and supports the Group and external customers in the development of new strategic perspectives.

As an independent and service-oriented 4PL partner (4PL = fourth-party logistics), Roland Transport offers comprehensive logistics services for small and medium-sized enterprises, acts as a 4PL service provider that is always neutral and without assets of its own, and optimizes the various services offered in a total package.

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Dr. Oetker Verlag, which also belonged to the Other Interests Division until Decem-ber 31, 2015, handed over its program of cookery and baking books with effect on January 1, 2016 to ZS Verlag, which also operates in this segment of the book market. A long-term licensing agreement was signed. The 14 employees of the publishing house also switched to the new partner or have been given a new job in the Oetker Group.

ProcurementThe procurement processes of OEDIV relate almost entirely to hardware and software components needed for professional data center operations. In the software sector, prod-ucts of the market leader are often deployed for the various areas. In the hardware sector, there are a few strategic suppliers used to guarantee a homogeneous IT infra-structure. In addition, purchasing of services has been increasing for some time now, as specific OEDIV services can only be rendered with the help of partner companies.

Handelsgesellschaft Sparrenberg (HGS) supports those responsible for purchasing in the companies of the Oetker Group, as well as numerous external companies, as a tech-nically and methodologically specialized service provider in the predominantly inter-national activities of strategic purchasing. Based on this function, it possesses many years of experience in the analysis and use of European procurement markets, in research, preparation and interpretation of market and price data, and in projecting potential future developments. Because of its participation in numerous tenders, HGS has high market presence and knowledge of the potential that can be realized. Its market assessments and forecasts support the planning and extrapolation process. It delivers calculations for value analysis and material harmonization projects. These activ-ities deliver a contribution to cost savings, efficiency improvements and risk manage-ment in the procurement sector.

Production and logisticsAt Budenheim, the process of labeling and design for packaging materials was facilitated during 2015 through the application of Six Sigma methods as part of the pilot project “White Label”. There is now greater flexibility at the end of the value chain, as a result of which – and this is also in the customer’s interests – product availability has also been improved. The principles that have been developed will be rolled out further in the future. A plant management planning process was carried out for the entire Budenheim site for the time horizon 2030+, which establishes the guiding principles for future use of the spaces, buildings and production lines.

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Dr. Oetker Verlag, which also belonged to the Other Interests Division until Decem-ber 31, 2015, handed over its program of cookery and baking books with effect on January 1, 2016 to ZS Verlag, which also operates in this segment of the book market. A long-term licensing agreement was signed. The 14 employees of the publishing house also switched to the new partner or have been given a new job in the Oetker Group.

ProcurementThe procurement processes of OEDIV relate almost entirely to hardware and software components needed for professional data center operations. In the software sector, prod-ucts of the market leader are often deployed for the various areas. In the hardware sector, there are a few strategic suppliers used to guarantee a homogeneous IT infra-structure. In addition, purchasing of services has been increasing for some time now, as specific OEDIV services can only be rendered with the help of partner companies.

Handelsgesellschaft Sparrenberg (HGS) supports those responsible for purchasing in the companies of the Oetker Group, as well as numerous external companies, as a tech-nically and methodologically specialized service provider in the predominantly inter-national activities of strategic purchasing. Based on this function, it possesses many years of experience in the analysis and use of European procurement markets, in research, preparation and interpretation of market and price data, and in projecting potential future developments. Because of its participation in numerous tenders, HGS has high market presence and knowledge of the potential that can be realized. Its market assessments and forecasts support the planning and extrapolation process. It delivers calculations for value analysis and material harmonization projects. These activ-ities deliver a contribution to cost savings, efficiency improvements and risk manage-ment in the procurement sector.

Production and logisticsAt Budenheim, the process of labeling and design for packaging materials was facilitated during 2015 through the application of Six Sigma methods as part of the pilot project “White Label”. There is now greater flexibility at the end of the value chain, as a result of which – and this is also in the customer’s interests – product availability has also been improved. The principles that have been developed will be rolled out further in the future. A plant management planning process was carried out for the entire Budenheim site for the time horizon 2030+, which establishes the guiding principles for future use of the spaces, buildings and production lines.


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Business Divisions

In the logistics sector, the initiative started at Budenheim last year to prevent damage to transport packaging in a sustainable manner has developed to become an extensive program over several years. The first successes have already become apparent in the re-porting year in a reduction of complaints about packaging. In addition, the existing output and production planning process was restructured and relaunched: since the middle of 2015, there has been a fully integrated planning process available in SAP-based systems, from output forecasting and production planning through to raw mate-rials procurement planning.

The services that OEDIV provides from its data center meet the highest quality stan-dards. Because of the highly critical nature of the processes in the systems operated by OEDIV, the concepts and architectures that are deployed must keep pace with the highest availability requirements. These are continuously tested and updated at OEDIV. To secure its services, OEDIV operates two data centers to ensure that, in the event of a disaster, the critical systems are still available and / or can be restored as quickly as possible.

Marketing and salesBudenheim markets its products worldwide via direct sales and distributors. During the reporting year, the support for customers and the complete order processing for South and Central America were relocated from Germany to Mexico to improve customer proximity.

The hotels of the Oetker Collection, including their marketing activities and sales pro-cesses, are coordinated by the Oetker Hotel Management Company (OHMC). This enables coordinated and efficient marketing, which in the wake of the forthcoming opening in São Paolo will be expanded significantly. Co operation with the leading travel agents in the core markets, intensive support for the hotels from the international network of more than twelve PR agencies and the close cooperation between the hotels so as to jointly promote the individual operations of the Oetker Collection remain essen-tial to sales success.

OEDIV’s business is mainly about trust, as the customers place critical processes and data under our responsibility. OEDIV wins its customers across a variety of sectors in German small and medium-sized enterprises – including ones that operate interna-tionally – via both direct and indirect sales channels in the business-to-business environ-ment. Satisfied reference customers and recommendations are decisive for long-term growth. Because of increasing customer requirements and the associated increase in complexity, tech nical customer presales consulting to translate the customer require-ments into stable IT architectures and solutions is an essential prerequisite for success-ful integration of new customers.

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In the 4PL business, Roland Transport develops effective solutions together with cus-tomers as a neutral consultant without a fleet of its own in almost all logistics business processes. The services offered are based on the three interconnected pillars of 4PL, main forwarder and additional services. The strategic direction of Roland Transport KG was developed further in 2015.

Research and development, new productsBudenheim restructured its quality organization last year. All quality management tasks (quality assurance and quality control) were merged within a global organization across the sites.

In addition, Budenheim achieved an innovation rate of 16.4% in 2015; all divisions were able to improve their innovation rate when compared to the previous year.

To continue promoting this trend and to consolidate Budenheim’s outstanding position in the world as an innovative research company, the central innovation organization was repositioned. With the departments research and development, process develop-ment, protective rights management and innovation management, the company will be able to quickly and effectively cope with tasks that arise in the future. Furthermore, innovation platforms, which will contribute to business success in the long term with fundamentally new business models, were strengthened with their own, permanently assigned, resources.

The innovation platform Phosphorus Recovery deals with the environmentally friendly recovery of phosphates from sewage sludge. The ecological and economic advantages of this process, which was developed in-house, also impressed the German Bundess-tiftung Umwelt and the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2015, and moved them to grant a subsidy. Overall, subsidies of approximately EUR 1 million have already been received for this development.

The food ingredients unit introduced BUDAL® MW in previous years for heating crispy baked products in the microwave, and the first revenues have now been realized in the USA with its use in pizzas. Further applications have been achieved in the company’s own application engineering for, among other things, puff pastry products. Motivated by the ban on the use of sodium aluminum phosphate in the production of bakery prod-ucts in Europe, a new LEVALL® AS product line was developed last year and also intro-duced gradually in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This new LEVALL® AS product line, based on calcium, also met with broad international acceptance because of the reduction of the sodium content.

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In the 4PL business, Roland Transport develops effective solutions together with cus-tomers as a neutral consultant without a fleet of its own in almost all logistics business processes. The services offered are based on the three interconnected pillars of 4PL, main forwarder and additional services. The strategic direction of Roland Transport KG was developed further in 2015.

Research and development, new productsBudenheim restructured its quality organization last year. All quality management tasks (quality assurance and quality control) were merged within a global organization across the sites.

In addition, Budenheim achieved an innovation rate of 16.4% in 2015; all divisions were able to improve their innovation rate when compared to the previous year.

To continue promoting this trend and to consolidate Budenheim’s outstanding position in the world as an innovative research company, the central innovation organization was repositioned. With the departments research and development, process develop-ment, protective rights management and innovation management, the company will be able to quickly and effectively cope with tasks that arise in the future. Furthermore, innovation platforms, which will contribute to business success in the long term with fundamentally new business models, were strengthened with their own, permanently assigned, resources.

The innovation platform Phosphorus Recovery deals with the environmentally friendly recovery of phosphates from sewage sludge. The ecological and economic advantages of this process, which was developed in-house, also impressed the German Bundess-tiftung Umwelt and the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2015, and moved them to grant a subsidy. Overall, subsidies of approximately EUR 1 million have already been received for this development.

The food ingredients unit introduced BUDAL® MW in previous years for heating crispy baked products in the microwave, and the first revenues have now been realized in the USA with its use in pizzas. Further applications have been achieved in the company’s own application engineering for, among other things, puff pastry products. Motivated by the ban on the use of sodium aluminum phosphate in the production of bakery prod-ucts in Europe, a new LEVALL® AS product line was developed last year and also intro-duced gradually in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This new LEVALL® AS product line, based on calcium, also met with broad international acceptance because of the reduction of the sodium content.


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In 2015, the business unit performance materials was able to successfully win new customers who work on the production of expandable polystyrene (EPS) as part of the market launch of the innovation EPSolute®. The product EPSolute® represents a new technology, which has been registered for a patent, that enables the polymerization reaction to be controlled much more precisely. As a result, the yield of the production process is increased significantly. Raw materials and energy are saved as a result. The iron phosphate EXCELION®, which was developed specifically for battery applications, was able to expand its market presence in the core market of China. With a new product in the CLAROFOS® product line, the application in cartridges for treating drinking water in private households could be optimized.

In the business unit material ingredients, the company was able to successfully establish a new product in the market based on FR CROS® for fire protection for steel girders in the construction area. The improvement enables our customers to produce fire-protective coatings which have much longer shelf lives and much higher functionality when compared to the competition. Modern car headlights, cell phones or furnishings are assembled from a large number of plastics. BUDIT® L enables rapid and precise laser welding of the plastic parts without the use of adhesives. In 2015, the business unit Material Ingredients launched further key projects with manu facturers in the plastics industry that are, for example, developing innovative solutions for medical applications.

Because of the rapid pace of innovation in the IT sector, OEDIV evaluated new operating concepts and technologies again last year and made them ready for operation. Over the course of 2015, therefore, the service portfolio has grown further. Examples include the operation of a platform for e-mail archiving, the operation of business-to-consumer online stores and systems based on SAP Hybris, and the extended operation of virtual desktop infrastructures.


KEY DATA 2014 2015

Sales revenue (in EUR million) 500 524

Adjusted sales revenue (in EUR million) 500 495



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The companies in the Other Interests Division operate primarily in the chemical industry and the hotel business. As regards the various markets, the companies in the division have developed differently. Overall, the division realized a 4.7% revenue increase to EUR 524 million. On the other hand, the adjusted sales revenue ran to EUR 495 million, primarily due to exchange rate effects. Expenses for investments amounted to EUR 38 million in financial year 2015. The headcount grew to 2,482 in the same period.

Focusing on markets and values has proven Budenheim’s position in 2015 too. Given the persistently weak growth dynamic in the chemical industry, and a politically and economically uncertain global environment, the Group was unable to achieve the planned growth in volume, but again improved its results. From a regional point of view, the business in Europe developed positively with the exception of acid trading, which faced particularly high competitive pressure. In the markets outside Europe, how-ever, the volume expectations were not reached. But when compared to the chemical industry, Budenheim was able to increase its sales revenue at a disproportionately high rate by 5.0% to EUR 272 million.

Budenheim sold 1.0% more in its core business of specialty chemical products. With the changed product mix, the average price on balance increased significantly by 6.6%. As a result, contrary to the industry trend the rise in revenue in the core business ran to 7.5%. When including the acid trading limited to Europe, the overall result was a fall in volume of 3.8%.

The food ingredients unit was able to perform well in the increasingly difficult global economic environment and achieved a modest increase in sales volume versus the previous year. The unit’s revenue has increased significantly versus financial year 2014 as a result of a rigorously value-oriented pricing policy and due to positive exchange rate effects.

The revenue of the performance materials unit recorded a significant increase when compared to the previous year. The development of the dollar exchange rate also had a positive impact. The results of the ongoing business were also bolstered decisively by innovations. Among other things, the new business in the application area of cathode materials for batteries, expandable polystyrene and agricultural products contributed to these results. In the application area of pharmaceuticals, market access was improved significantly by the switch from distribution to direct business. In addition, the busi-ness in the area of high-temperature lubricants was expanded significantly through an

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The companies in the Other Interests Division operate primarily in the chemical industry and the hotel business. As regards the various markets, the companies in the division have developed differently. Overall, the division realized a 4.7% revenue increase to EUR 524 million. On the other hand, the adjusted sales revenue ran to EUR 495 million, primarily due to exchange rate effects. Expenses for investments amounted to EUR 38 million in financial year 2015. The headcount grew to 2,482 in the same period.

Focusing on markets and values has proven Budenheim’s position in 2015 too. Given the persistently weak growth dynamic in the chemical industry, and a politically and economically uncertain global environment, the Group was unable to achieve the planned growth in volume, but again improved its results. From a regional point of view, the business in Europe developed positively with the exception of acid trading, which faced particularly high competitive pressure. In the markets outside Europe, how-ever, the volume expectations were not reached. But when compared to the chemical industry, Budenheim was able to increase its sales revenue at a disproportionately high rate by 5.0% to EUR 272 million.

Budenheim sold 1.0% more in its core business of specialty chemical products. With the changed product mix, the average price on balance increased significantly by 6.6%. As a result, contrary to the industry trend the rise in revenue in the core business ran to 7.5%. When including the acid trading limited to Europe, the overall result was a fall in volume of 3.8%.

The food ingredients unit was able to perform well in the increasingly difficult global economic environment and achieved a modest increase in sales volume versus the previous year. The unit’s revenue has increased significantly versus financial year 2014 as a result of a rigorously value-oriented pricing policy and due to positive exchange rate effects.

The revenue of the performance materials unit recorded a significant increase when compared to the previous year. The development of the dollar exchange rate also had a positive impact. The results of the ongoing business were also bolstered decisively by innovations. Among other things, the new business in the application area of cathode materials for batteries, expandable polystyrene and agricultural products contributed to these results. In the application area of pharmaceuticals, market access was improved significantly by the switch from distribution to direct business. In addition, the busi-ness in the area of high-temperature lubricants was expanded significantly through an


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Business Divisions

acquisition. With the acquisition of the hot metal forming business of Imerys Graphite & Carbon, customers can now be offered a broad and qualitatively unique product port-folio as a result of the acquisition of complementary expertise. At the same time, the coverage of the customer base, especially in North America, has improved signifi-cantly with the acquisition.

The material ingredients unit was exposed to particularly hostile market conditions in 2015, which resulted in a fall in revenues. The abrupt technology change in one appli-cation field in the active polymers segment resulted in an almost complete loss of the sales volumes of one special product. In addition, the increasing infringement of Budenheim patents by products and extremely low prices, primarily from China, pre-vented the planned growth in Asia and North America. In the paints and coatings segment, Budenheim was confronted with strong price competition from China, which could not be compensated for entirely by the volume increases in sales. The revenue declines described could partly be compensated for by exceptional growth in the Wildfire segment led by new business in South America. The strong development of the flame protection additive in Europe also supported the double-digit revenue growth in the protective polymers market segment.

The Oetker Collection can look back on a mixed financial year 2015. After several years of significant revenue increases, the total sales revenues of the hotel segment fell by 4.4% to EUR 150 million, so the expectations for revenue development have not been met for this year. Revenue increases at the Brenners Park-Hotel and at the Oetker Hotel Management Company were unable to compensate for the revenue declines at the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris. A generally difficult market environment in the French capital, which was also exacerbated by the terrorist attacks in 2015, stood in the way of any fur-ther positive development of Oetker Collection’s Paris hotel. In the south of France, revenues at the Château St. Martin & Spa fell slightly, whilst the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on the other hand was able to once again achieve the record revenue level of the pre-vious year.

In Baden-Baden, the Brenners Park-Hotel benefited in the previous financial year from the opening of the new “Destination Spa” in the Villa Stéphanie. The hotel, which many years ago helped to introduce and define the term spa internationally, is setting new standards with this new product. At the same time, the hotel was expanded by ten rooms and suites to a new total of 110 units.

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The Oetker Hotel Management Company took over the management of the iconic London hotel, The Lanesborough, in 2015 and signed a management contract for a hotel in São Paolo. Under the leadership of the Oetker Collection, this project will open upon completion in the spring of 2017 and expand the Oetker Collection portfolio to a new total of ten hotels.

The number of bed nights sold rose in year-on-year comparison by 5.9%. The increase is attributable in particular to a higher number of US guests. Furthermore, the full-year consolidation of the Hotel Eden Rock St. Barths, which has been part of the Oetker Collection since mid-2014, contributed to the rise in the bed nights sold.

OEDIV’s revenue also developed pleasingly in financial year 2015. The trend towards out-sourcing of internal IT infrastructures continued last year as well. Small and medium- sized enterprises are much more strongly focused on private cloud products than on public clouds. As a medium-sized provider with data centers operated exclusively in Germany, OEDIV enjoys high confidence in the area of data protection. The revenue planning for financial year 2015 was significantly exceeded both with existing cus-tomers and through the acquisition of new customers. In addition, the business was positively impacted by the withdrawal of a competitor for managed services from the small and medium-sized enterprises sector.

ForecastFor 2016, the chemical industry is expecting a weak sideways movement in production volumes and revenues. Budenheim wants to uncouple itself from this trend and is planning more demanding growth in all divisions. In the coming year, the company is planning to implement the plant management plan at its German site and strong investments at almost all sites worldwide. Furthermore, Budenheim will integrate the business with high-temperature lubricants acquired from Imerys Graphite & Carbon in the previous financial year.

The Oetker Collection is assuming slightly higher revenues in 2016. The Brenners Park-Hotel, the Château St. Martin & Spa and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc are likewise expecting moderate increases in revenues. In contrast, the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris is looking hesitantly at 2016 and is anticipating a slight decline in revenues, with the not exactly easy conditions in France, the negative repercussions of the terror attacks and the expected reopening of local competitors all playing a role. At the Oetker Hotel Management Company, the management contract that was recently concluded will produce further increases in revenues.

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The Oetker Hotel Management Company took over the management of the iconic London hotel, The Lanesborough, in 2015 and signed a management contract for a hotel in São Paolo. Under the leadership of the Oetker Collection, this project will open upon completion in the spring of 2017 and expand the Oetker Collection portfolio to a new total of ten hotels.

The number of bed nights sold rose in year-on-year comparison by 5.9%. The increase is attributable in particular to a higher number of US guests. Furthermore, the full-year consolidation of the Hotel Eden Rock St. Barths, which has been part of the Oetker Collection since mid-2014, contributed to the rise in the bed nights sold.

OEDIV’s revenue also developed pleasingly in financial year 2015. The trend towards out-sourcing of internal IT infrastructures continued last year as well. Small and medium- sized enterprises are much more strongly focused on private cloud products than on public clouds. As a medium-sized provider with data centers operated exclusively in Germany, OEDIV enjoys high confidence in the area of data protection. The revenue planning for financial year 2015 was significantly exceeded both with existing cus-tomers and through the acquisition of new customers. In addition, the business was positively impacted by the withdrawal of a competitor for managed services from the small and medium-sized enterprises sector.

ForecastFor 2016, the chemical industry is expecting a weak sideways movement in production volumes and revenues. Budenheim wants to uncouple itself from this trend and is planning more demanding growth in all divisions. In the coming year, the company is planning to implement the plant management plan at its German site and strong investments at almost all sites worldwide. Furthermore, Budenheim will integrate the business with high-temperature lubricants acquired from Imerys Graphite & Carbon in the previous financial year.

The Oetker Collection is assuming slightly higher revenues in 2016. The Brenners Park-Hotel, the Château St. Martin & Spa and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc are likewise expecting moderate increases in revenues. In contrast, the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris is looking hesitantly at 2016 and is anticipating a slight decline in revenues, with the not exactly easy conditions in France, the negative repercussions of the terror attacks and the expected reopening of local competitors all playing a role. At the Oetker Hotel Management Company, the management contract that was recently concluded will produce further increases in revenues.


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Business Divisions

Besides the advantages of being based in Germany, the megatrend of digitization will contribute to growth at OEDIV. Because of the strongly increased need for systems and infrastructures associated with digitization to cope with the information that is produced, as well as the higher complexity and availability requirements, OEDIV is also expecting further moderate growth in its customer base for 2016 and revenue in-creases as a result.

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Bank Division

2014

259 million

2015

281 million

+ 8.5%

281euros in equity on the balance sheet

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Business Divisions

With its subsidiaries, Bankhaus Lampe KG forms the Bank Division and ranks among the leading independent private banks managed by personally liable stockholders in Germany. In its business activities, the bank focuses on advising and mentoring the three target customer groups of wealthy private customers, companies and institutional investors. It is accounted for at equity in the consolidated financial statements. For more information, please refer to the Bank’s separate annual report.

bankhaus-lampe.de

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The total assets have risen versus December 31, 2014 by EUR 313 million to EUR 8,812 mil-lion. The rise is largely attributable to additions in fixed assets, which in the first in-stance are attributable to the first-time consolidation and purchase price allocations in the Food and Shipping Divisions. In addition, current assets rose for operational rea-sons, whilst the liquidity reduced to EUR 807 million on the balance sheet date. This decline by EUR 513 million is largely connected to the acquisitions completed in the course of 2015, for which the liquidity had deliberately been built up in the previous year.

The basic values of the balance sheet structure are as follows:

BALANCE SHEET STRUCTUREin EUR million 2013 2014 2015

Total assets 7,700 8,499 8,812

Fixed assets 4,375 4,634 5,216

Inventories, receivables and prepaid expenses 2,414 2,545 2,789

Cash and cash equivalents 981 1,320 807

Equity 3,105 3,484 3,613

Provisions 1,446 1,526 1,750

Liabilities incl. deferred income, deferred tax liabilities 3,219 3,489 3,450

In fixed assets, the acquisition and production costs as of January 1, 2015 reduced by EUR 73 million due to differences from currency translation. On the other hand, changes in the consolidation group caused a rise of EUR 273 million.

The intangible assets rose by EUR 431 million versus the previous year to EUR 596 mil-lion. Goodwill makes up EUR 158 million of this (previous year: EUR 55 million). The increase by EUR 103 million is primarily the result of first-time consolidations in the Food Division. Other major changes were the result of brand rights acquired within the context of acquisitions.

The increase in tangible fixed assets by EUR 208 million to EUR 4,112 million is almost completely explained by investments exceeding the depreciations by EUR 216 million (without first-time consolidations). Additions to fixed assets and intangible assets totaled EUR 1,471 million. First-time consolidations accounted for EUR 731 million of this. Current investments amounted to EUR 740 million and were thus EUR 73 million above the investment level of the previous year of EUR 667 million. From a regional per-spective, the focus was on investments in Germany and the focal point of investments was on the acquisition of ships and containers. The amortizations and depreciations on intangible and tangible assets totaled EUR 684 million.

Financial Positionof the Oetker Group

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The investments in associated companies of EUR 413 million were made, primarily, in Bankhaus Lampe KG, Düsseldorf, S.A. Damm, Barcelona (Spain), Emaphos Euro Maroc Phosphore S.A., Casablanca (Morocco), and Itapoá Terminais Portuários S.A., Itapoá (Brazil).

Inventories have risen versus last year by EUR 67 million to EUR 842 million. Trade accounts receivable have increased by EUR 120 million to EUR 1,335 million, mainly on account of acquisitions in the Food and Shipping divisions.

The total accounts receivable from affiliated companies of EUR 7 million (previous year: EUR 3 million) can be set against liabilities of EUR 5 million (pre vious year: EUR 80 million). These items relate to German and foreign companies not included in the scope of consolidation.

The other assets of EUR 533 million (previous year: EUR 495 million) include short-term borrowings and claims not set off against liability items from the reinsurance of pension obligations with Condor Versicherungsgruppe, as well as tax refund entitle-ments, receivables relating to empty packaging and the like. They also include the assets of Atlantic Forfaitierungs AG, which essentially relate to short-term financial in-vestments. An amount of EUR 103 million (previous year: EUR 105 million) has a maturity of more than one year.

The cash and cash equivalents of EUR 807 million are made up of amounts due from Bankhaus Lampe and the item “Cash in hand, deposits with nonaffiliated banks and checks”.

The fixed capital of Dr. August Oetker KG remained unchanged at EUR 450 million. The Group’s reserves rose by EUR 232 million to EUR 3,394 million on the balance sheet date. The change in the difference in equity from currency translation of EUR 101 million is essentially the result of the shift in the euro against the national currencies in the USA, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

The provisions for pensions amounted to EUR 621 million on the balance sheet date (previous year: EUR 602 million). Whilst portfolio changes had a negative effect of EUR – 46 million, interest and exchange rate effects had a positive effect of EUR 65 mil-lion. As in the past, a portion of the staff pension arrangements is covered by direct insurance policies, mainly with Condor Lebensversicherungs-AG. The insurance pre-miums needed for this purpose are largely paid in the form of a lump sum. Policy loans are not used.

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The provisions for taxes of EUR 38 million (previous year: EUR 22 million) include only effective taxes. The other provisions include amounts for outstanding invoices, deposit credit balances from the Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages Division, and sales reductions, especially in the Food Division and in the personnel department.

Total liabilities amount to EUR 3,376 million (previous year: EUR 3,477 million) struc-tured by residual terms, which can be found in the notes. The miscellaneous other liabilities included in the total amount of EUR 1,525 million (previous year: EUR 1,561 mil-lion) include payments received for pending voyages in the Shipping Division and the stockholders’ accounts within Dr. August Oetker KG.

The deferred tax liabilities rose by EUR 57 million to EUR 59 million on the balance sheet date and result only from consolidation measures, as there was an asset surplus at the level of the individual financial statements, essentially as the result of different valuation approaches in the provisions for pensions. To that extent, the company avails itself of the option under Section 274, para. 1, sent. 2, of the German Commercial Code (HGB).

The Oetker Group’s financial position is marked by internal financing, largely re-tained earnings and long-term bank loans. Net financial assets fell from EUR 147 mil-lion as of December 31, 2014 to a negative balance of EUR 314 million at the end of 2015, above all due to the expenses for acquisitions and investments again exceeding depreciations.

Equity grew when compared to the previous year by EUR 129 million to EUR 3,613 mil-lion. With an increase in the total equity and liabilities at the same time of 3.7%, the equity ratio remained unchanged at 41.0%. The bank liabilities are mainly based on loans with terms of ten years, which are serviced according to plan. Long-term loans of EUR 184 million were repaid during the reporting year and new loans of EUR 75 mil-lion were taken out.

Long-term charter contracts exist in an amount of EUR 2,709 million and are typical for the Shipping Division. In addition, there are leasing liabilities on a manageable scale only in the area of financing containers for Hamburg Süd. Other leasing agreements and off-balance-sheet financial instruments have only a subordinate role for the Group.

Financing and cash investments by subsidiaries are combined within the Oetker Group wherever possible in order to minimize risks and exploit potential optimization. Inter-est, price and currency hedging is carried out primarily by Dr. August Oetker KG by means of derivative financial instruments on the market.

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Performance IndicatorsFinancial and Nonfinancial Performance Indicators

Financial performance indicators Pursuant to Section 13, para. 3, sent. 2, of the Disclosure Act, no information is given on financial performance indicators.

Nonfinancial performance indicators This section includes further information on the Oetker Group’s nonfinancial perfor-mance indicators. The performance and thus also the future capability of the individual divisions is not only mapped in the form of economic indicators, but is also reflected in the Group’s nonfinancial performance indicators, which play a key role in the further successful development of the companies.

As one of the major German family businesses, the Oetker Group is conscious of its responsibility vis-à-vis its stakeholder groups. The family exerts considerable influence on the Group’s strategy and business policy and with the words “The interests of the company have priority over those of the owner family” has established this as the principle of its entrepreneurial commitment. This statement forms the basis for responsible management of the company across generations. It puts the Oetker Group into a posi-tion to grow sustainably and always place the quality and thus also the safety, of its products and services at the forefront.

Within the framework set across the Group, the individual companies of the divisions develop efficient solutions decentrally in the fields of compliance, research and develop-ment, supply chain, human resources, environmental protection and social responsi-bility. The key information on selected issues and a number of the measures taken in this respect by the Group companies in 2015 are set out below.

Further information on the fields mentioned here can be found in the publications and websites of the Group companies.

The issue of compliance has grown in significance on account of the strong inter-national growth of the Oetker Group and the increasing legal requirements. For that reason, a compliance management system has been developed for the entire Oetker Group and a compliance organization has been set up. Its compliance officers are avail-able as neutral and independent contacts for all issues surrounding compliance.

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The headcount of the companies in the scope of consolidation of the Oetker Group rose significantly in 2015. As of the balance sheet date, there were 30,787 people employed worldwide (previous year: 28,354). That was 8.6% more than in the previous year. Organic personnel growth amounted to 3.0%.

The Food Division increased its headcount from 12,790 to 14,478, which is the result above all of the acquisitions. In the Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages Division, the head-count rose from 5,757 to 5,894. The Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits Division recorded a slight fall in personnel from 2,007 to 1,972 employees. The headcount in the Shipping Division increased considerably again from 5,360 to 5,960, of which 4,520 people are employed in onshore operations and 1,440 people in operations at sea. The rise is largely based on the strategic expansion of the east-west trade lanes, the acquisition of the container line activities of CCNI and various organizational and IT projects. The head-count in the Other Interests Division grew from 2,440 to 2,482 employees.

Personnel expenses within the Oetker Group in 2015 stood at EUR 1,484 million (pre-vious year: EUR 1,322 million).

Personnel strategy of the Oetker GroupThe Oetker Group’s success is based on its qualified and committed employees world-wide. The Group’s personnel strategy is aimed at supporting strategic development and international growth to the greatest possible extent and promoting close cooperation between the Group companies. It builds on common principles of modern international human resources management and forms the basis for a Group-wide understanding of values, the support for knowledge transfer across the Group and the creation of con-ditions to inspire its employees for flexible deployment within the Group.

To counter the challenge of demographic change and increasing international com-petition, the family business provides attractive working conditions at all levels and creates secure jobs. In addition, it offers interesting career prospects in an interna-tionally positioned group of companies. The following will present a number of central measures as examples.

Promoting young talentsIn times of an increasing skills shortage, the competition on the personnel market is growing steadily, so talented individuals such as committed career entrants need to be recruited by companies at an early stage. Within the context of challenging work experi-ence placements and a jointly developed “Stay in Touch” program for former interns and apprentices, the Group nurtures close contact with potential new employees. Those

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among them who have previously proven themselves through above-average perfor-mance during their deployments are given the opportunity twice a year to meet at the “Stay in Touch” events. The goal is to get to know the Group companies better, stay in contact, get information about career opportunities within the Oetker Group and continue building on their own skills with the support of a series of seminars. Last year the meetings took place at Hamburg Süd in Hamburg and Chemische Fabrik Budenheim in Budenheim.

Besides the “Stay in Touch” program, the Oetker Group – based on the concept of Dr. Oetker – initiated Talent Days for the first time for students in various disciplines, at which participants gained practical insight into five companies from the Oetker Group. The host and co-initiator for the two-day event in 2015 was Henkell & Co. Sekt-kellerei in Wiesbaden. During workshops hosted by Henkell & Co. Sektkellerei, the Radeberger Group, Bankhaus Lampe, the Hamburg Süd Group and Dr. Oetker, students were able to put their theoretical knowledge into practice and worked in teams with specialists and managers on issues relevant to the companies in the sectors of marketing, banking, sales, market research, logistics and controlling. Apart from that, the par-ticipants could get information at info stands about career entry opportunities with the Group companies Henkell & Co. Sektkellerei, the Radeberger Group, Bankhaus Lampe, the Hamburg Süd Group and Dr. Oetker.

In the vocational education sector, the Oetker Group creates the basis for a promising career through good entry conditions, intensive induction phases and a wide range of qualification programs. A decisive factor is extensive and varied training for young people. A total of 866 apprentices were employed in the Oetker Group last year (previous year: 861).

The Group companies initiated a large number of different programs for young talents in 2015.

In order to make it even more attractive to potential applicants, Dr. Oetker revised its international careers website within the context of employer branding with the positioning “Shaping the future through quality”.

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Within the context of promoting young talent, Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese staged a vocational education day and the Martin Braun Group – like the other Group com-panies – works together with universities and polytechnics to recruit especially talented individuals. In addition, Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese has started a pilot project in the area of personnel marketing that is aimed at occupational groups that are difficult to recruit.

The apprentices in the more than ten vocational trades of the Radeberger Group were again among the best graduates in 2015.

At Henkell & Co., 2015 was all about communication, health and, in particular, support for the younger generation. Numerous career days took place again. Young school-children were given the opportunity to get to know the career entry opportunities in direct contact with active apprentices from Henkell & Co. Within the context of an inter national assignment, dual-course students in the Henkell & Co. Group companies were able to acquire intercultural skills. The entire group that joined the company in 2012 took this opportunity and became acquainted with the Vinpol site in Poland, Törley in Hungary and Cavas Hill in Spain.

The Henkell & Co. Group also participated in the EU’s Erasmus+ program in 2015. Ten vocational electrical engineering students from Racibórz (Upper Silesia) made the long journey to the Rhine-Main region for a total of three weeks in order to start their student exchange program with a work experience placement. The program, which is financed and supported by the European Union, has now been in place for six years and serves to promote international young talents.

A large number of new jobs were created last year at OEDIV as a result of its growth. Recruitment was based on internal training, hiring and qualification of university graduates and winning over experienced employees. The trend towards a skills shortage persisted here, which is especially evident in the IT sector.

Developing employeesA further focal point of the strategy is supporting and guiding employees. The entre-preneurial activities of the Oetker Group have long been marked by a high degree of responsibility toward its employees. To promote their competencies and skills, the companies invest continuously in the personal and technical development of their em-ployees. The Group-wide succession and talent management program also contributes to opening up even more varied development opportunities and career prospects nation-ally and internationally and filling key positions within the Oetker Group with the most suitable employees, primarily on an internal basis. This is not only strongly moti-vating for the employees, but also reflects the long-term focus of the Group’s human resources work.

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At Dr. Oetker, the focus last year was again on the further development of international human resources projects: recruiting, employee bonding, personnel development, talent management, compensation systems and general human resources processes. Special attention is also given to international career opportunities, so that the inter-nationalization of human resources activities and networking among the national com-panies is being driven forward.

The succession planning that has now been practiced for several years also enables specific development of talents at Dr. Oetker, especially for key positions. Besides the international trainee program, which has been an integral part of Dr. Oetker’s per-sonnel strategy for over 30 years, the talent development program (TDP) has been con-tinuously developed further. The international management development program (MDP) was successfully run for the first time last year. With the MDP, employees are prepared for top-level positions within the Group.

In 2015, the Radeberger Group attached particular value to training and development for its sales staff in order to maintain and build on their high level of qualifications. The key account management program in the sector of category management, for example, was certified, and employees in catering sales were trained as beer sommeliers or in specific business issues in order to become more qualified to meet the special require-ments of their partners in the catering industry.

Within the context of the CIP launch (CIP = continuous improvement process) at the sites, employees in the technical and logistics sectors were trained as lean production masters at the CETPM (Centre of Excellence for Total Productive Management) at the University of Ansbach. This ensures that the key methods and tools of process opti-mization are systematically and sustainably applied at the sites so as to improve value creation and productivity.

Linking onto the Management Development Program carried out between 2013 and 2015 for the top two management levels, the conceptual design of the curriculum for the third management level was completed at Hamburg Süd in 2015. Within the con-text of this program, all group leaders at the Hamburg Süd site in Hamburg will be systematically trained based on the competence model established several years ago in the areas of leadership principles, communication and feedback, dealing with resis-tance and conflicts, change management, and, among other things, in the areas of strategic and methodological skills.

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Furthermore, the international global management potentials program was started in May 2015. As part of this two-year management development program, participants from the offices in Hong Kong, Miami, Morristown (New Jersey), São Paolo, Santiago de Chile and Montevideo undergo various qualification measures, such as leadership training and coaching, as well as mentoring elements. In addition, they work on inter-national projects and the output from these projects is presented to senior managers and the Hamburg Süd management board.

There were again numerous international personnel moves in 2015 between the head office in Hamburg and the regions. The employee exchange program includes training programs abroad, short- and medium-term secondments and long-term assignments of five or more years.

The Oetker Collection created more and more career prospects for its employees last year through job rotation between the various hotels in its ever-bigger portfolio.

Because of the dynamic business environment in information technology, various training and qualification programs are run at OEDIV. Besides certification courses, sandwich courses are promoted, as is technology-specific training.

Motivating and retaining employeesA corporate culture in which a climate of trust prevails is the key to open and respectful cooperation between employees and their managers, so the satisfaction of employees and their identification with the individual companies of the Oetker Group are major factors for their commitment in their positions, as well as for their bonding with the Oetker Group. To continuously improve working conditions, many sites run employee surveys at regular intervals with intensive follow-up processes.

Besides regular surveys, work-life balance is a key issue for the Oetker Group because the companies believe that their employees can best develop their skills if their job and family life are in harmony. The Group companies promote working time models that suit both the employee and the company. These are intended to take various life phases into account and thus support work-life balance. To that end, the various sites have implemented a variety of different measures, such as childcare programs during school holidays or alliances with family counseling organizations.

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In addition, balanced age structures and employment longevity are particular features of the Oetker Group and proof of the strong bond between the workforce and the Group companies. The diversity of the employees, with their different personal traits, talents and skills, boosts the creativity and innovative power of the Group’s world-wide activities.

The following measures and projects are examples of what the Group companies were focusing on in 2015:

Within the context of work-life balance, Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese enjoyed the distinction of being the most family-friendly large company in its region. Besides offer-ing emergency childcare and support for children during school holidays, there is specific counseling for relatives of people who need care.

At the Radeberger Group the trustful cooperation that has now been practiced for years with social partners of the NGG trade union and the works councils proved its worth again. The brewery group succeeded in concluding an agreement that is unique in the industry in the logistics sector, which allows well over 100 additional employees to be hired and secured under the collective bargaining agreement instead of having to rely on temporary staff.

At Martin Braun and Henkell & Co., the course was set for important changes in the individual departments after the presentation of the results of the employee surveys from the previous year. Workshops are being staged and various suggestions for im-provement have already been implemented. At Henkell & Co., this includes optimization of cooperation and communication. Cooperation within and between departments has been improved through communication forums. Within the context of the Henkell Academy, the relevant senior brand managers will present changes in the product portfolio to the workforce. The other pillars of the newly introduced Henkell Academy are technical presentations, specific training courses, indi vidual promotions, seminars on improving soft skills and language courses.

Promoting healthDemographic trends and longer working lives will lead to substantial changes in many industrial nations. For the Oetker Group, it is more important than ever to secure the ability of employees to perform in the long term, so promoting an appropriate working environment and health management is a fundamental principle and has been an integral part of human resources policy since the company was founded. Within that context, the companies of the Group have also implemented numerous models to pro-mote health, ranging from prevention and early detection to highly diverse measures for exercise, healthy nutrition and relaxation.

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In addition, a project was started across the Group last year that analyzes physical and mental burdens within the context of risk assessments based on new legal regulations for workplaces at the German sites. At workshops, employees can have their indi vidual situation at the workplace reviewed. This is about understanding whether mental stressors exist at the personal workplace and what consequences they might have, as well as developing appropriate solutions in the team. Measures derived from this pro-cedure are being implemented gradually. In 2015, the analysis was begun at Dr. Oetker (Bielefeld site), the Radeberger Group (Berlin site) and Hamburg Süd (Hamburg and Bremen site).

Occupational safety and company health management are also a high priority at the Martin Braun Group. For years now, the company has nurtured a targeted prevention management regime with numerous measures that go above and beyond statutory requirements. In 2015, Martin Braun received an award from the Berufsgenossenschaft Nahrungsmittel und Gastgewerbe for the areas of occupational safety organization, training and development, transport and traffic, health and safety and ergonomics. Besides the efforts to improve occupational safety, health days on various issues – back training, for example – are a key tool for tackling specific problems.

Similar health days also took place at the other Group companies. With the motto “Run yourself fit”, Henkell & Co. staged a health day in the spring of 2015 in order to get employees fit for an inter-company race in Frankfurt am Main. As part of the health day, employees were offered support in their training preparation: besides weekly run-ning training with a professional coach, the workforce was offered professional nutri-tion counseling, a motivational presentation on the subject of running and advice on choosing the right running shoes.

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At Hamburg Süd, the annual health days and company-facilitated sports activities at the headquarters in Hamburg and regular company sports events have become integral parts of efforts to promote good health. The ships’ crews in the shipping line also enjoy optimum conditions to promote good health. The ships are, for example, equipped with fitness rooms and thus offer a sporting balance to everyday work on the high seas.

At Budenheim, a decisive step towards introducing a systematic and integrated health management regime took place in 2015 with the appointment of a health manager. The first activities included successful running courses and a cooperation with “Fruitful Office”, which is intended to encourage healthier eating by offering employees fresh fruit free of charge.

Occupational safety is also taking on a high priority at the Group companies. Occupa-tional safety measures are constantly reviewed and developed further to offer employees safe and ergonomically optimized workplaces. Innovative employee suggestions for further improvement are promoted by the Group companies.

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Environmental Protection

Protecting the environment has special significance in the Oetker Group and is firmly anchored based on specific and measurable targets in the corporate strategy aimed at long-term value creation. Within the context of any sustainable and environmentally aligned product development, the Group companies consider the complete product lifecycle and implement the notion of environmental protection at every stage from the packaging design to production and use of the product through to disposal and recy-cling, orienting themselves to the environmental and energy policies that have been adopted. In this way, high environmental standards have already been achieved at all Group companies.

Irrespective of this, the Group is still pursuing the goal of continuously reducing its envi-ronmental impact. In 2015, companies belonging to the Oetker Group also imple-mented extensive measures for further improvement. This progress is due to the commit-ment of the employees. They have regularly reviewed attainment of the ambitious targets and assumed responsibility for environmental protection under their own initia-tive. Lowering energy consumption and reducing emissions as a result remains a focal point in environmental and climate protection activities within the Oetker Group. The following will present a number of central measures as examples.

The companies operated under Dr. Oetker have further extended their diverse environ-mental protection activities in the 2015 reporting year. This continuous improvement was again confirmed by independent surveyors with the recertification of the integrated environmental management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001. In addi-tion, the German plants of Dr. Oetker were again certified in accordance with the energy management standard DIN EN ISO 50001. Continuous further development is en-sured sustainably by realizing new goals every year. The following measures and projects were in the focus of the Dr. Oetker national companies for financial year 2015: process optimization in production workflows, efficiency improvements in cold bonding systems, higher material efficiency in the packaging area, converting from conventional light-ing to modern LED lighting and achieving energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions as a result of all these measures.

The Martin Braun Group has further extended its existing activities in the areas of the environment, energy, waste, packaging and water management. The environmental and energy management system at the Martin Braun site in Hanover was again certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001 and DIN EN ISO 50001 in 2015.

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Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese has belonged to the Oetker Group since mid-2015 and confirmed the certification of its environmental management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001 at the Osnabrück and Mettingen sites. In addition – at Mettingen again and at Osnabrück for the first time – the energy man agement system was certi-fied in accordance with DIN EN ISO 50001. Significant energy saving projects were also realized, for example optimization of the ventilation control system in freezing pro-cesses and the conversion of conventional lighting to modern LED lighting.

The Radeberger Group has for many years now been certified within the context of matrix certification in accordance with the standards DIN EN ISO 9001 (quality), 14001 (environment) and 50001 (energy). The environmental targets focus above all on achieving energy savings in the areas of heat, electricity and water. The brewery Group now operates six combined heat and power plants with a high efficiency level of up to 90%. Because of resource-intensive brewing, bottling and transport processes, the Group also focuses on continuous minimization of energy and water consumption, waste-water, waste, dust and noise emissions. The Group company Krostitzer Brauerei has in-stalled a new bottle cleaning machine for returnable bottles, which allows significant savings in water and heating energy. The cogeneration plant installed in Krostitz is able to supply the entire heat energy needed for the bottle washing machine. Likewise, three new mixers were installed ahead of the returnable bottle lines for further optimi-zation of the Pepsi bottling in Löhnberg. This makes it possible to reduce the run-up and run-down volumes when switching products. The filtration process was optimized at the site in Frankfurt am Main, so it no longer needs to use diatomite.

Sustainable management, and thus extensive environmental protection, is integrated in the sustainability principles of the Henkell & Co. Group and is common practice at all sites. The Group is certified on a site-specific basis in accordance with the standards of DIN EN ISO 9001, DIN EN ISO 14001, DIN EN ISO 50001, OHSAS 18001, IFS6 and BRC. In addition, the Wiesbaden site is certified organic. The relevant standards are combined in an integrated management system for more efficient implementation. Furthermore, alternative energy generation using geothermal, solar and combined heat and power generation, use of low-pressure steam, energy recovery, reduction of elec-tricity, gas and water consumption and the minimization of carbon dioxide emissions have been an integral part of the environmental policy for many years now. All con-sumption of energy and natural resources is subject to permanent monitoring and constant optimization.

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Hamburg Süd is one of only a few shipping lines to have formulated verifiable and com-pulsory environmental targets. Among other things, the focus has shifted to reducing CO2 emissions and energy consumption for the reefer containers and largely elimi-nating the use of tropical wood for container floors: by 2020, the plan is to reduce CO2 emissions of its own and chartered container ships per unit of transport (TEU / km) by 45% versus the base year 2009. At the end of 2015, those emissions had already been reduced by more than a third. The energy consumption of the reefer containers in the fleet was planned to be lowered by 15% by the end of 2015 through the use of new software. That target was almost attained. Between 2012 and 2015, the plan was to do without tropical wood in at least 80% of the floors in new dry containers. That target was exceeded, primarily through the use of bamboo. To achieve the highly varied envi-ronmental targets, Hamburg Süd has also invested in more efficient ships and new reefer containers. A Fleet Operations Center has also been established to support effi-cient operation of the fleet at sea. Furthermore, an emissions database has been devel-oped with which internal and external enquiries concerning the CO2 emissions of car-goes can be answered automatically. In addition, Hamburg Süd takes part in initiatives that push, among other things, for more environmental protection in the international shipping business, for example the Clean Cargo Working Group, the Trident Alliance and the Environmental Ship Index.

Besides the requirements of the DIN EN ISO 14001 and 50001 standards, Budenheim’s environmental policy also takes the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme of the Euro-pean Union (EMAS III) and the guidelines of the Responsible Care Program of the German Chemical Industry Federation (VCI) into account. For example, the site in Germany was subjected to a chemical sustainability check in cooperation with an ex-ternal consultant in order to determine the current situation and existing strengths and persisting weaknesses. For processes and activities at Budenheim, environmental factors, such as raw material and energy consumption, are systematically measured and the effects are documented. Building on this, strategic and operational environ-mental targets have been defined and implemented since 1996. One example of this is the extremely ambitious target to improve energy efficiency by 15% by 2020 and at the same time reduce CO2 emissions by 15% (base year 2010). For this purpose a cogenera-tion plant will be built at the Budenheim site in 2016. In addition to this, tests success-fully carried out in 2015 with alternative burner technologies suggest that savings of up to 40%, as well as substantial reductions in maintenance costs, may be possible in the production of phosphate slags.

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The main focus of the sustainability activities of the Oetker Collection remains the completion of the structured analysis of the status quo in all hotels. The internal sustain-ability audit relates among other things to the issue of environmental protection. When implementing measures, the Oetker Collection’s sustainability program is based on the United Nations Global Compact initiative and the requirement for annual publication of a progress report (“communication on progress”). Besides that, the focus in 2015 was on communicating a vision, mission and values, which describe the Group’s sustainability targets and the fundamental commitment to sustainability at the Oetker Collection and make these targets and principles accessible to all employees. Further-more, the Oetker Collection started cooperating with the “Considerate Hoteliers” initia-tive, which supports and advises hotels on structuring and pursuing sustainability activities. A key element of this cooperation is the use of an online platform to record and monitor resource consumption. The key issue of resource consumption will also drive the measures and goals in 2016.

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Subsequent Events and Forecast

Subsequent eventsNo events requiring reporting have occurred between the balance sheet date of Decem-ber 31, 2015 and the date of compilation of the consolidated financial statements.

ForecastThe world economy will grow by approximately 2.9% in 2016. Asia will probably be significantly above and Europe significantly below this average. Global trading is expect-ed to grow by 2.5%.

The business development of the Oetker Group in 2016 will once again strongly depend on developments in the economic framework. Raw material prices are expected to re-main largely stable for the consumer goods divisions, with a bunker oil price under the average for 2015. The foreign currencies important to the Oetker Group are expected to remain close to the average 2015 level.

Sales revenue will rise slightly, both organically and through the consolidation for the full year of the companies acquired in 2015, and will again be over EUR 12 billion.

Investments of approximately EUR 450 million are expected for 2016. The focus at the production companies will be on new plants and extensions and expansion of pro-duction capacities; especially worthy of mention is the completion of the building for research and development at the Bielefeld location. At Hamburg Süd, which in contrast to previous years will only have an approximately 20% share in these planned invest-ments, the program to expand and renew the fleet of ships and the stock of its own con-tainers will be con tinued and it will invest in the new building for the Hamburg Süd headquarters.

Net debt is expected to fall slightly.

The acquisitions in 2015, which will be taken into account completely for the first time in 2016, will also be significant for the forecast changes with respect to headcounts. All other changes will be on a minor scale.

Further aspects of the developments expected in the individual divisions are described in the relevant sections.

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Opportunities and Risks Report


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The business activities of the Oetker Group offer a lot of opportunities and are subject to permanent risks. The primary goal is to achieve a balance between opportunities and risks.

For the Oetker Group, exploiting market opportunities makes it possible to realize growth in combination with a sound earnings situation. For that reason, a firm eye is kept on all trends in the industries relevant to the Group. Opportunities are consid-ered when formulating the plan and pursued as part of periodic reporting. Regular market and competitive analyses are carried out and the crucial success factors of the markets are examined.

The Group companies are subject to different economic frameworks. Consumption trends among consumers are particularly relevant in the three consumer goods divisions. A diversified product portfolio and continuous development of new products help the Group to take account of market and consumer needs, including the trend towards more quality awareness and increased demand for sustainably produced products.

Expanding the Group’s market presence also offers strategic opportunities. This applies, for example, to the markets in emerging nations. With the help of strategic acqui-sitions, the product portfolio can be expanded, the market position improved and growth boosted.

Within the context of its structure, which is diversified by both industries and regions, the Oetker Group is also exposed to different risks. These involve above all economic risks, which affect the freight and charter rates in the Shipping Division in particular, raw material price risks, which affect all divisions of the Oetker Group (especially fuel price risks in Shipping) and to a lesser extent currency risks. Dealing with these business risks is a key component of entrepreneurial leadership at the Oetker Group.

Operational opportunities and risks

Procurement market opportunities and risks In the estimation of the Group’s management, the prices on the procurement markets will again change only moderately in 2016. Many of the raw materials important to the consumer goods divisions have already been firmly contracted for 2016 in terms of their prices, so there are no risks here. Other risks in procurement are mitigated by diversification of suppliers and other measures to secure volumes. For the fuels impor-tant to the Shipping Division, bunker oil and gas oil, on the other hand, a lower price than the average for 2015 is expected.

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Environmental and industry opportunities and risksThe consumption climate is of crucial significance for the consumer goods divisions. On top of that there are crises in Ukraine and Russia. In addition, state interventions also have a major influence. There are also risks for the divisions of the Group from the persisting debt and financial crises in many countries. In addition, the increasingly intense competition and continuing trade concentration harbor risks too, but also gener-ate new opportunities as a result. The Group companies counter these risks by continu-ously strengthening their brands and constantly developing new products. Apart from this, using different sales channels enables a balance between potentially structural migration movements and consumer demand patterns.

For the Shipping Division, there are risks in particular from worsening macroeconomic trends with corresponding consequences for developments in freight rates, especially in the line business. Given the forthcoming delivery of new-build tonnage and the low scrapping rates of old ships, there is the risk that the market capacities will increase faster than the demand for transport services. With any recovery in global trading, how-ever, there will also be oppor tunities to implement the division’s transport services on the market profitably.

Functional opportunities and risks

Financial opportunities and risksThe Oetker Group is subject to financial opportunities and risks in terms of liquidity, currencies and interest rates. Given the solid earnings structure of the Oetker Group, the long-term links to various banks and financing based on classic bank loans, mainly with ten-year terms, the liquidity and interest risk is regarded as extremely low. Cur-rency risks are mainly hedged with the help of forward exchange transactions, which limit potential losses. The prospect of the price of the US dollar in 2016 moving above that of 2015 represents a risk given the dominance of the US dollar in shipping.

Legal and regulatory risksAs a company that operates worldwide, the Oetker Group has to observe a large number of legal and regulatory standards.

To implement them, internal standards, guidelines and procedures need to be regularly reviewed – including within the context of management systems. All relevant legal and regulatory requirements and compliance with the Oetker Code of Conduct are monitored by a compliance organization set up across the Group.

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Environmental and industry opportunities and risksThe consumption climate is of crucial significance for the consumer goods divisions. On top of that there are crises in Ukraine and Russia. In addition, state interventions also have a major influence. There are also risks for the divisions of the Group from the persisting debt and financial crises in many countries. In addition, the increasingly intense competition and continuing trade concentration harbor risks too, but also gener-ate new opportunities as a result. The Group companies counter these risks by continu-ously strengthening their brands and constantly developing new products. Apart from this, using different sales channels enables a balance between potentially structural migration movements and consumer demand patterns.

For the Shipping Division, there are risks in particular from worsening macroeconomic trends with corresponding consequences for developments in freight rates, especially in the line business. Given the forthcoming delivery of new-build tonnage and the low scrapping rates of old ships, there is the risk that the market capacities will increase faster than the demand for transport services. With any recovery in global trading, how-ever, there will also be oppor tunities to implement the division’s transport services on the market profitably.

Functional opportunities and risks

Financial opportunities and risksThe Oetker Group is subject to financial opportunities and risks in terms of liquidity, currencies and interest rates. Given the solid earnings structure of the Oetker Group, the long-term links to various banks and financing based on classic bank loans, mainly with ten-year terms, the liquidity and interest risk is regarded as extremely low. Cur-rency risks are mainly hedged with the help of forward exchange transactions, which limit potential losses. The prospect of the price of the US dollar in 2016 moving above that of 2015 represents a risk given the dominance of the US dollar in shipping.

Legal and regulatory risksAs a company that operates worldwide, the Oetker Group has to observe a large number of legal and regulatory standards.

To implement them, internal standards, guidelines and procedures need to be regularly reviewed – including within the context of management systems. All relevant legal and regulatory requirements and compliance with the Oetker Code of Conduct are monitored by a compliance organization set up across the Group.



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In addition, the usual insurance policies have been concluded to cover certain legal risks.

Information technology risksInformation technology risks are countered by extensive capital expenditures in the security architecture of the IT systems.

Personnel opportunities and risks The financial success of the Oetker Group is largely defined by its employees’ skills and motivation. Recruiting highly qualified specialists and managers and binding them to the Oetker Group in the long term is for this reason enormously important. To this end, the Group relies on targeted measures to develop employees and on incentive sys-tems. A further focal point in the Group’s human resources work is on health manage-ment and counseling employees in different phases of their lives.

Environmental and safety factorsDue to its activities at numerous locations worldwide, the Oetker Group has to observe standards in the area of the environment, safety, health and social aspects. This can result in harm to people and goods. Measures that target legal and regulatory risks also help counter environmental and safety ones as do certifications, counseling and employee training. In addition, high technical standards in production provide effective protection.

Summary of the opportunities and risks situationThere are no concentrations of risk worthy of mention either on the customer side or on the supplier side. Likewise, there are no apparent risks that may put the Group’s existence at risk in connection to the countries in which the Oetker Group operates.

Moreover, from today’s perspective, there are no risks apparent that might result in any impact on the long-term existence of the Oetker Group. In addition, a higher risk coverage volume has been created in past years via a sustainable increase in the equity ratio, with which from today’s perspective the risk drivers in the Oetker Group’s business can be managed even better. At the same time, the opportunities offered can be grasped from this solid foundation.


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Environmental Protection

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Consolidated Financial Statements

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Consolidated Statement of Changes

in Fixed Assets 94 – 95



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Dr. August Oetker KG

Consolidated Balance Sheet

ASSETSIn EUR ’000 2014 2015

FIXED ASSETS

Intangibles

Acquired concessions, trademarks and similar rights and assets as well as licenses to such rights and assets 108,414 434,957

Goodwill 55,426 158,408

Advance payments 1,310 2,470

165,150 595,835

Tangibles

Land, leasehold rights and buildings, including buildings on leasehold land 950,663 1,012,087

Machinery and equipment 428,322 475,941

Other equipment, fi xtures, furniture and offi ce equipment

Ships and containers 2,086,440 2,194,278

Miscellaneous other equipment, fi xtures, furniture and offi ce equipment 258,764 274,743

Advance payments and fi xed assets under construction 179,816 155,250

3,904,005 4,112,299

Financial assets

Shares in subsidiaries 95 65

Investments in associated companies 413,438 412,966

Investments in other companies 69,684 19,796

Long-term borrowings to affi liated companies 2,082 1,725

Fixed-assets securities 1,318 1,489

Other long-term borrowings 77,295 72,274

Advance payments on fi nancial assets 895

564,807 508,314

4,633,962 5,216,448

CURRENT ASSETS

Inventories

Raw materials and supplies 237,424 254,110

Work in progress

Voyages in progress (shipping) 133,833 149,213

Other work in progress 92,727 91,365

Finished products and merchandise 307,055 343,658

Advance payments 4,119 3,920

775,158 842,266

Accounts receivable and other current assets

Accounts receivable (trade) 1,215,035 1,334,954

Accounts receivable from affi liated companies (apart from banks) 2,729 7,052

Other current assets 495,291 532,679

1,713,055 1,874,685

Funds

Accounts receivable from affi liated banks 174,237 71,027

Cash in hand, deposits with nonaffi liated banks and checks 1,145,690 735,655

1,319,927 806,682

3,808,140 3,523,633

DEFERRED CHARGES AND PREPAID EXPENSES 52,785 68,468

POSITIVE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAN ASSETS AND RETIREMENT BENEFIT OBLIGATIONS 4,241 3,636

8,499,128 8,812,184


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Consolidated Balance Sheet

Dr. Ottmar GastRichard Oetker Dr. Albert Christmann

EQUITY AND LIABILITIESIn EUR ’000 2014 2015

EQUITY

Fixed capital 450,000 450,000

Reserves 3,162,309 3,394,367

Difference in equity due to currency conversion – 134,365 – 234,977

Minority interests in consolidated companies 6,327 3,461

3,484,271 3,612,851

DIFFERENCE DUE TO CAPITAL CONSOLIDATION 25 0

PROVISIONS

Provisions for pensions and similar obligations 601,881 620,885

Provisions for taxes 21,674 37,896

Other provisions 902,462 1,090,803

1,526,017 1,749,583

LIABILITIES

Liabilities due to banks

Liabilities due to banks outside the Oetker Group 1,162,553 1,111,085

Liabilities due to affi liated banks 9,975 9,967

Advance payments received 7,574 7,542

Accounts payable (trade) 527,013 571,057

Accounts payable to subsidiaries 879 43

Accounts payable to affi liated companies (apart from banks) 79,258 5,315

Miscellaneous liabilities

Taxes 115,490 131,968

Social security 13,539 14,110

Other 1,560,712 1,525,209

3,476,993 3,376,297

DEFERRED INCOME 9,068 14,133

DEFERRED TAX LIABILITIES 2,754 59,319

8,499,128 8,812,184

Contingent liabilities pursuant to Section 251 of the Commercial Code

Contingent liabilities in respect of guarantees 25,243 15,106

Contingent liabilities in respect of warranties 7,906 3,528

Bielefeld, April 13, 2016 Dr. August Oetker KGGeneral Partners

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Consolidated Statement of Changesin Fixed Assets

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN FIXED ASSETSIn EUR ’000

Cost as of January 1, 2015

Currency differences

and effects due to change in scope of

consolidation Additions Disposals Reclassifi cations Write-ups in 2015

Accumulated depreciation and

amortization as of December 31, 2015

Book value as ofDecember 31, 2015

Depreciation and amortization

in 2015Book value as of

December 31, 2014

Intangibles

Acquired concessions, trademarks and similar rights and assets as well as licenses to such rights and assets 834,204 9,393 479,215 – 36,715 1,097 537 – 852,774 434,957 – 147,522 108,414

Goodwill 93,453 – 4,293 143,358 – 11,907 – 62,203 158,408 – 35,196 55,426

Advance payments 1,310 – 4 1,972 – 109 – 697 – 3 2,470 – 3 1,310

928,967 5,097 624,544 – 48,731 400 537 – 914,979 595,835 – 182,721 165,150

Tangibles

Land, leasehold rights and buildings, including buildings on leasehold land 1,951,647 52,830 140,903 – 86,271 36,800 1,489 – 1,085,311 1,012,087 – 57,582 950,663

Machinery and equipment 1,953,699 181,890 98,991 – 49,995 56,275 241 – 1,765,161 475,941 – 101,213 428,322

Ships and containers 3,848,340 – 57,950 385,145 – 45,430 41,245 – 1,977,073 2,194,278 – 268,448 2,086,440

Other equipment, fi xtures, furniture and offi ce equipment 831,466 12,039 87,222 – 86,662 11,564 – 580,887 274,743 – 74,191 258,764

Advance payments and fi xed assets under construction 179,859 – 1,441 133,972 – 10,775 – 146,321 – 45 155,250 179,816

8,765,012 187,369 846,233 – 279,133 – 437 1,730 – 5,408,475 4,112,299 – 501,435 3,904,005

Financial assets

Shares in subsidiaries 142 39 – 113 26 – 29 65 95

Investments in associated companies 422,138 – 3,883 10,510 – 7,099 – 8,699 412,966 413,438

Investments in other companies 76,947 98 846 – 51,211 47 – 6,932 19,796 – 14 69,684

Long-term borrowings to affi liated companies 2,152 86 – 494 – 20 1,725 2,082

Fixed-assets securities 1,648 92 269 – 60 – 30 3 – 433 1,489 – 10 1,318

Other long-term borrowings 99,941 5 16,603 – 25,926 19 1,904 – 20,274 72,274 – 1,206 77,295

Advance payments on fi nancial assets 894 – 1 – 894 895

603,862 – 3,687 28,354 – 85,797 36 1,933 – 36,387 508,314 – 1,231 564,807

TOTAL 10,297,842 188,779 1,499,130 – 413,660 4,200 – 6,359,842 5,216,448 – 685,386 4,633,962


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Consolidated Statement of Changes in Fixed Assets

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN FIXED ASSETSIn EUR ’000

Cost as of January 1, 2015

Currency differences

and effects due to change in scope of

consolidation Additions Disposals Reclassifi cations Write-ups in 2015

Accumulated depreciation and

amortization as of December 31, 2015

Book value as ofDecember 31, 2015

Depreciation and amortization

in 2015Book value as of

December 31, 2014

Intangibles

Acquired concessions, trademarks and similar rights and assets as well as licenses to such rights and assets 834,204 9,393 479,215 – 36,715 1,097 537 – 852,774 434,957 – 147,522 108,414

Goodwill 93,453 – 4,293 143,358 – 11,907 – 62,203 158,408 – 35,196 55,426

Advance payments 1,310 – 4 1,972 – 109 – 697 – 3 2,470 – 3 1,310

928,967 5,097 624,544 – 48,731 400 537 – 914,979 595,835 – 182,721 165,150

Tangibles

Land, leasehold rights and buildings, including buildings on leasehold land 1,951,647 52,830 140,903 – 86,271 36,800 1,489 – 1,085,311 1,012,087 – 57,582 950,663

Machinery and equipment 1,953,699 181,890 98,991 – 49,995 56,275 241 – 1,765,161 475,941 – 101,213 428,322

Ships and containers 3,848,340 – 57,950 385,145 – 45,430 41,245 – 1,977,073 2,194,278 – 268,448 2,086,440

Other equipment, fi xtures, furniture and offi ce equipment 831,466 12,039 87,222 – 86,662 11,564 – 580,887 274,743 – 74,191 258,764

Advance payments and fi xed assets under construction 179,859 – 1,441 133,972 – 10,775 – 146,321 – 45 155,250 179,816

8,765,012 187,369 846,233 – 279,133 – 437 1,730 – 5,408,475 4,112,299 – 501,435 3,904,005

Financial assets

Shares in subsidiaries 142 39 – 113 26 – 29 65 95

Investments in associated companies 422,138 – 3,883 10,510 – 7,099 – 8,699 412,966 413,438

Investments in other companies 76,947 98 846 – 51,211 47 – 6,932 19,796 – 14 69,684

Long-term borrowings to affi liated companies 2,152 86 – 494 – 20 1,725 2,082

Fixed-assets securities 1,648 92 269 – 60 – 30 3 – 433 1,489 – 10 1,318

Other long-term borrowings 99,941 5 16,603 – 25,926 19 1,904 – 20,274 72,274 – 1,206 77,295

Advance payments on fi nancial assets 894 – 1 – 894 895

603,862 – 3,687 28,354 – 85,797 36 1,933 – 36,387 508,314 – 1,231 564,807

TOTAL 10,297,842 188,779 1,499,130 – 413,660 4,200 – 6,359,842 5,216,448 – 685,386 4,633,962

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Application of the statutory requirementsAs a commercial partnership, Dr. August Oetker KG is required pursuant to Section 2 of the German Act on Disclosure of Company Financial Statements (below Disclosure Act) to com-pile and publish consolidated financial statements and a Group management report. These consolidated financial statements and Group management report, which were prepared in accordance with Section 13 of the Disclosure Act in conjunction with Sections 294 to 314 of the German Commercial Code (below Commercial Code), qualify for exemption within the meaning of Section 264 (4) of the Commercial Code, Section 264b of the Commercial Code and Section 5 (6) of the Disclosure Act for the companies identified in the list of share-holdings pursuant to Section 313 of the Commercial Code (published in the electronic Federal Gazette).

With the exception of the information pursuant to Section 313 (2) of the Commercial Code, this annual report complies with the regulations of Section 13 of the Disclosure Act in con-junction with Sections 294 to 315 of the Commercial Code.

Scope of consolidationAll of the major domestic and foreign companies on which Dr. August Oetker KG can exert a controlling influence directly or indirectly have been included in the consolidated financial statements.

A total of 417 companies (previous year: 398), of which 240 are German and 177 are foreign companies, were consolidated as of the balance sheet date. Seven companies (previous year: 16) were not fully consolidated as they are not of material significance. The same applies to twelve associated companies (previous year: eleven companies) with regard to consoli-dation at equity.

In addition, seven companies (previous year: six) were valued at equity.

The following significant changes occurred within the scope of consolidation:

The acquisition of the family business Conditorei & Wiese as of June 30, 2015 extended the scope of consolidation by seven German and three foreign companies. With the acqui-sition completed in March 2015 of D’Gari, the Oetker Group’s scope of consolidation in-creased by seven companies. In addition, there are other additions in the Food Division and in other divisions of the Oetker Group, which are, however, of secondary significance for the Group overall.

The subsidiaries of the FrischeParadies Group, which was sold with economic effect on October 31, 2015, are no longer included in the scope of consolidation. In addition, several small and from a Group perspective insignificant companies have left the scope of consoli-dation following a merger or liquidation.


Notes to the ConsolidatedFinancial Statements


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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements

All annual financial statements of the main companies included in the scope of consolidation were audited by external auditors in accordance with the usual professional principles.

They were all provided with an unqualified audit opinion. In the case of the other companies included, the Group’s auditors were able to assure themselves that the annual financial statements comply with generally accepted accounting principles and the provisions of the Disclosure Act and the Commercial Code.

A listing of shareholdings is published in the electronic Federal Gazette as an element of the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Accounting policies and valuation methodsThe reporting and valuation procedures of the subsidiaries included in the consolidated financial statements are in accordance with uniform Group procedures. The financial statements of the companies accounted for using the equity method were adjusted in part to the uniform Group guidelines.

Tangible and intangible assets were valued in accordance with Section 253 of the Commercial Code. No use was made of the option provided for in Section 248 (2), sent. 1, of the Com-mercial Code to capitalize self-produced intangible assets within the Oetker Group. The max-imum valuation limit for production costs is the costs pursuant to Section 255 (2), sent. 1 and 2, of the Commercial Code. Investment grants were treated as deductions from acqui-sition costs. Scheduled depreciation and amortization were based both on the straight line and the declining balance method (with transition to the straight line method if the amount thus produced was higher than with the declining balance method), largely in accordance with the useful lives recognized by the tax authorities. In Germany, minor assets with acqui-sition costs of up to EUR 410 are fully written off in the year of acquisition. A similar approach is taken abroad in comparable cases. In some cases, a collective item is formed for the year for minor assets, for which the acquisition or production costs for the individual asset exceed EUR 150 but not EUR 1,000, which is written off as cost evenly over five years.

The value of financial assets is not to exceed its acquisition cost to the extent no lower values are called for. Permanent decrease in value of fixed assets are accounted for by impair-ment losses.

Current assets are valued in accordance with Sections 253 and 256 of the Commercial Code. The production costs of inventories include appropriate manufacturing overheads observing the production cost limits set by the tax authorities; interest on borrowed capital is not capitalized. Apparent inventory risks are accounted for through loss-free valuation. Adequate specific and general provisions are formed to cover risks in accounts receivable.


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All annual financial statements of the main companies included in the scope of consolidation were audited by external auditors in accordance with the usual professional principles.

They were all provided with an unqualified audit opinion. In the case of the other companies included, the Group’s auditors were able to assure themselves that the annual financial statements comply with generally accepted accounting principles and the provisions of the Disclosure Act and the Commercial Code.

A listing of shareholdings is published in the electronic Federal Gazette as an element of the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Accounting policies and valuation methodsThe reporting and valuation procedures of the subsidiaries included in the consolidated financial statements are in accordance with uniform Group procedures. The financial statements of the companies accounted for using the equity method were adjusted in part to the uniform Group guidelines.

Tangible and intangible assets were valued in accordance with Section 253 of the Commercial Code. No use was made of the option provided for in Section 248 (2), sent. 1, of the Com-mercial Code to capitalize self-produced intangible assets within the Oetker Group. The max-imum valuation limit for production costs is the costs pursuant to Section 255 (2), sent. 1 and 2, of the Commercial Code. Investment grants were treated as deductions from acqui-sition costs. Scheduled depreciation and amortization were based both on the straight line and the declining balance method (with transition to the straight line method if the amount thus produced was higher than with the declining balance method), largely in accordance with the useful lives recognized by the tax authorities. In Germany, minor assets with acqui-sition costs of up to EUR 410 are fully written off in the year of acquisition. A similar approach is taken abroad in comparable cases. In some cases, a collective item is formed for the year for minor assets, for which the acquisition or production costs for the individual asset exceed EUR 150 but not EUR 1,000, which is written off as cost evenly over five years.

The value of financial assets is not to exceed its acquisition cost to the extent no lower values are called for. Permanent decrease in value of fixed assets are accounted for by impair-ment losses.

Current assets are valued in accordance with Sections 253 and 256 of the Commercial Code. The production costs of inventories include appropriate manufacturing overheads observing the production cost limits set by the tax authorities; interest on borrowed capital is not capitalized. Apparent inventory risks are accounted for through loss-free valuation. Adequate specific and general provisions are formed to cover risks in accounts receivable.

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Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at the mean spot exchange rate at the time of the transaction for the sake of simplicity, at the monthly average rate in some cases.

Pension provisions are calculated based on actuarial reports. The pension provisions of the German companies are formed based on Section 6a of the Income Tax Act and take into account the current mortality tables of Prof. Dr. Klaus Heubeck, with the simplification rule of Section 253 (2), sent. 2, of the Commercial Code applied with the interest rate forecast as of October 31, 2015, by the German Central Bank for a residual maturity of 15 years as of December 31, 2015 (3.89%, previous year: 4.54%); in addition, the provisions are based on an expected increase in wages and salaries of 1.5% (previous year: 1.7%). The pension obligations of the foreign companies are not of material importance.

Excess coverage within the meaning of Section 67 (1), sent. 2, of the Introductory Act to the German Commercial Code (EGHGB) comprises pension provisions of EUR 1,000. Assets within the meaning of Section 246 (2), sent. 5, of the Commercial Code of EUR 25 million were set off against corresponding provisions for pension obligations.

Provisions are recognized at the settlement amount necessary based on prudent commercial judgement. The provisions for long service anniversaries are also calculated based on the values stated for interest rates and wage and salary increases. Expected price increases of 1.5% are taken into account in the other provisions.

Liabilities are recognized at their settlement amount.

On account of an asset surplus in deferred taxes from individual financial statements, the deferred taxes are formed only as provided for by Section 306 of the Commercial Code. Deferred tax assets and liabilities from consolidation transactions are set off against one another. Tax rates specific to the individual companies are applied.

Valuation units within the meaning of Section 254 of the Commercial Code are formed to a minor extent. In these cases, the freezing method is applied.

Currency translationThe currency translation of items in foreign currencies on the balance sheets of the consol-idated companies is based on Section 256a of the Commercial Code. Where not already drawn up in euros, the balance sheets of the foreign subsidiaries are translated based on the modified closing rate method of Section 308a of the Commercial Code. Movements in the consolidated statement of changes in fixed assets are translated at the average exchange rate for the year.


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Consolidation methodsThe annual financial statements of all consolidated companies are compiled as of the date of the consolidated financial statements. Upon consolidation for the first time, the acquisition costs and investment book values are set off against the proportional equity in the capital consolidation based on the principles of the revaluation method. Initial consolidation is carried out on the date on which the company was acquired. The fair value of the assets, debts, accruals and deferrals and special items acquired is derived as far as possible from market prices within the context of comparable transactions. The remaining differences on the assets side are recognized as goodwill and written off as expense in the subsequent years pursuant to Section 309 (1) of the Commercial Code. The amortization takes place based on the straight line method and a useful life of at most five years. The same applies to the companies consolidated at equity. Differences on the liabilities side are recognized under the item “Difference due to capital consolidation” after equity and treated in accor-dance with Section 309 (2) of the Commercial Code.

All receivables and payables between consolidated companies are calculated to net and profits and losses on intercompany transactions are eliminated, as are intercompany expenses and income. Deferred taxes are allowed for in the event of differences resulting from consoli-dation that are expected to be eliminated in subsequent financial years.

Profits on intercompany transactions with companies consolidated at equity are not eliminated.

Other informationLiabilities amount to EUR 3,376 million. Based on residual times to maturity, the individual items are structured as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1: LIABILITIESIn EUR million

Payable within one year

(previous year)

Payable within one to 5 years

(previous year)

Payable after more than 5 years

(previous year)

Liabilities due to banks outside the Oetker Group 406 (382) 429 (472) 276 (308)

Liabilities due to affi liated banks 10 (10)

Advance payments received 8 (8)

Accounts payable (trade) 568 (527) 3 (0)

Accounts payable to subsidiaries 0 (1)

Accounts payable to affi liated companies (apart from banks) 5 (79)

Miscellaneous liabilities 723 (672) 433 (692) 516 (326)

Total 1,719 (1,679) 865 (1,164) 792 (634)

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No securities requiring disclosure were granted for these liabilities.

Risks arising from claims with respect to contingent liabilities pursuant to Section 251 of the Commercial Code are not anticipated given the creditworthiness of the debtor concerned.

The other financial obligations pursuant to Section 314 (1), no. 2a, of the Commercial Code total EUR 4,295 million, of which EUR 785 million is for next year. This includes the longer-term charter contracts that are typical for the Shipping Division with obligations of EUR 2,709 million and EUR 174 million for obligations under shipbuilding contracts. Off-balance-sheet transactions – beyond the obligations set out above in the Shipping Divi-sion – were negligible in view of the financial position of the Oetker Group.

As companies operating internationally, Dr. August Oetker KG and its subsidiaries are ex-posed to interest rate, price and currency risks. To mitigate these risks, Dr. August Oetker KG has, in particular, concluded contracts in derivative financial instruments (futures, swaps and options). The contracts held on the balance sheet date are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2: DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTSIn EUR million

Transaction volume Fair value

Forward purchase and sales 125 2

Options 46 – 30

Reserves of EUR 31 million were formed for the forward transactions, swaps and options not included in the valuation units.

The derivative financial instruments are valued based on certain assumptions and valuation models, such as the present value method, Black-Scholes or Heath-Jarrow-Morton.

The workforce of the companies consolidated in the Oetker Group rose during the year by 8.6% to 30,787 employees (previous year: 28,354). The Food Division increased its head-count from 12,790 to 14,478, primarily due to acquisitions. In the Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages Division, the number of employees rose from 5,757 to 5,894. The Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits Division recorded a slight fall in personnel from 2,007 to 1,972. The headcount in the Shipping Division rose from 5,360 to 5,960. The workforce in the Other Interests Division grew from 2,440 to 2,482 employees.


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The differential amount between the corresponding carrying amounts and the share of equity of all associated companies is included amounts to EUR 1 million.

The total fee pursuant to Section 314 (1), no. 9, of the Commercial Code amounts to EUR 2,241 thousand. Of this amount, EUR 1,794 thousand is attributable to annual account auditing services, EUR 17 thousand to other assurance services, EUR 210 thousand to tax consultancy services and EUR 220 thousand to miscellaneous services.

Transactions with related companies and persons pursuant to Section 314 (1), no. 13, of the Commercial Code were immaterial in scope.

Income statementIn accordance with Section 13 (3), sent. 2, of the Disclosure Act, no income statement will be published. The income statement of the Bank can be found in a separate annual report.

The disclosures required pursuant to Section 5 (5), sent. 3, of the Disclosure Act are published in a separate appendix, see Table 3.

TABLE 3: APPENDIX TO THE BALANCE SHEETPursuant to Section 13 (3), sent. 2, of the Disclosure Act inconjunction with Section 5 (5), sent. 3, of the Disclosure Act 2014 2015

a) External sales (in EUR ’000) 10,934,455 12,225,753

b) Income from investments (in EUR ’000) 46,925 86,534

c) Wages and salaries, social security contributions, expenditureon pensions and other benefi ts (in EUR ’000) 1,321,666 1,484,150

d) Number of employeesConverted into full-time employees, the number of employees on average for 2015 was 29,557 (previous year: 27,228)

28,354 30,787

The sales revenues reported are broken down into geographically defined markets and business segments as shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4: BREAKDOWN OF SALES REVENUEIn EUR million 2014 2015

Germany 3,742 3,947

Other EU member states 2,575 2,821

Rest of Europe 561 582

Rest of the world 4,056 4,875

Thereof shipping sales in international waters 3,596 4,212

Breakdown of sales by division

Food 2,622 2,990

Beer and Nonalcoholic Beverages 1,929 1,966

Sparkling Wine, Wine and Spirits 697 689

Shipping 5,186 6,057

Other Interests 500 524

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Adjusted for changes in the scope of consolidation, total sales revenue for 2015 was EUR 11,677 million versus EUR 10,884 for 2014.

Bielefeld, April 13, 2016Dr. August Oetker KGThe General Partners

Report of the auditors on the complete consolidated financial statementsWe have audited the consolidated financial statements of Dr. August Oetker KG, Bielefeld, for the financial year from January 1 to December 31, 2015, taking into consideration the relevant accounting records and the Group management report.

Pursuant to German commercial law and the supplementary provisions contained in the articles of association, the company’s legally appointed representatives are responsible for keeping accounting records and for compiling the consolidated financial statements and the Group management report. Our task as auditors is to arrive at an assessment of the consolidated financial statements and the Group management report, taking the relevant accounting records into consideration.

We have conducted our audit of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with Section 317 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and the professional standards laid down by the Institute of Public Auditors in Germany. Accordingly, the audit must be planned and conducted in such a way that it is possible to detect with an adequate degree of cer-tainty any inac curacies and infringements that may have a negative impact on the true and fair picture of the net worth, financial position and earnings situation of the Company presented in the con soli dated financial statements and Group management report, taking the principles of proper accounting into consideration.

Dr. Ottmar GastRichard Oetker Dr. Albert Christmann


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The auditing procedures take account of specific knowledge of the company’s business activ ities, the general economic and legal environment, and possible sources of error. The effectiveness of the internal audit system as well as the accuracy of the data contained in the accounting records, the consolidated financial statements and the Group management report are verified largely on the basis of spot checks. The audit also evaluates the annual accounts of the companies included in the annual financial statements, the delineation of the consolidated Group, the accounting and consolidation principles, the appraisals made by the legally appointed representatives and the overall picture presented in the consolidated financial statements and the Group management report. In our view, the audit provides an adequately sound basis for evaluation.

Our audit did not result in any objections.

In our considered opinion, the consolidated financial statements accord with the legal requirements and the supplementary provisions of the articles of partnership and convey a true and fair view of the net worth, financial position and earnings situation of the Group in compliance with proper accounting principles.

The Group management report accurately describes the situation of the Group and accu-rately presents the opportunities and risks inherent in future developments.

Bielefeld, April 14, 2016

PricewaterhouseCoopersAktiengesellschaftWirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Peter KruppCertifi ed Public Accountant

Rudolf HagenCertifi ed Public Accountant

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Publishing Information

Published by Dr. August Oetker KG Lutterstraße 14 33617 Bielefeld Germany

Telephone: +49-521-1550 Fax: +49-521-1552-995

E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.oetker-gruppe.de

Edited by Public relations department

Design and production3st kommunikation, Mainz

PhotosDr. August Oetker KG

Printed byHans Gieselmann Druck und Medienhaus GmbH & Co. KG, Bielefeld

carbon neutralnatureOffice.com | DE-329-036136

print production

Given the diffi cult conditions worldwide, the Oetker Group closed the 2015 reporting year positively. Thanks to further development in line with its strategy, the Oetker Group generated pleasing growth.

The Oetker Group2015

May A new Henkell shop opens at the headquarters of Henkell &

Co. Sektkellerei in Wiesbaden, which turns the Group’s varied

product assortment into a tangible experience.

June Dr. August Oetker KG acquires Conditorei Coppenrath &

Wiese GmbH & Co. KG. The acquisition opens the door for

Dr. Oetker to the market for frozen gateaux, cakes and bakery prod-

ucts, in which Coppenrath & Wiese holds a leading position.

OEDIV has been certified under the global standard

ISO 27001 and has confirmed its fully functional Information

Security Management System. Annual control audits neces-

sary to maintain the certification provide the appropriate sustain-

ability. With the certification, OEDIV already meets many

requirements of the German IT Security Act adopted in 2015.

July London’s luxury hotel The Lanesborough, which is part

of the Oetker Collection, opens its doors. The reopening follows

a period of extensive renovation work, which has once again

restored this cult hotel to what it once was: London’s love liest

residence.

As a sponsor, Jever for the first time rocks the sellout Deich-

brand Festival in Cuxhaven, which with around 50,000 visitors

is one of Germany’s biggest festivals.

A limited edition for true aficionados of Fürst von Metternich:

limited to 500 individually numbered bottles, Cuvée Fürst von

Metternich Brut Jahrgangssekt is a premium 2013 vintage sparkling

wine composed of Schloss Johannisberg wines from the year

2013, which was produced using the traditional bottle-fermented

process. The label makes reference to the 200th anniversary

of the Congress of Vienna.

September Let’s go veggie! – Dr. Oetker brings the new Veggie Pizza to

home ovens and promises a complete, succulent pizza experience.

The innovative range comprises three delectable varieties topped

with vegetarian meat alternatives in various f lavors.

Wolf ButterBack has created a new, highly successful product

category in the German bakery market with the Laugenecke.

The iba in Munich, the world’s leading trade fair for the bakery

segment puts this trend product in the limelight.

NovemberFor the first time, the Oetker Group initiates Talent Days for

students. In workshops organized by the companies Henkell & Co.

Sektkellerei, the Radeberger Group, Bankhaus Lampe, the

Hamburg Süd Group and Dr. Oetker, students put their theo-

retical knowledge to the test. In addition, they can get infor-

mation on career entry opportunities at info stands.

Budenheim took part for the first time in the event “The Long

Night of Industry”, which takes place across Germany. The noc-

turnal atmosphere brings together what belongs together: industry

as a key economic factor and the people in the region. Authentic

and transparent, Budenheim shows the general public fascinating

production processes and presents itself as an attractive employer.

December The Oetker Collection is expanding in South America. In

the spring of 2017, the Palácio Tangará will open its doors in

the heart of São Paolo in Brazil under the leadership of the Oetker

Hotel Management Company (OHMC).

Budenheim acquires the business with lubricants for hot

forming of metals from Imerys Graphite & Carbon Ltd. expand-

ing its customer, product and technology portfolio in this global

business.

Hig

hlig

hts

2015

January New construction project starts: Dr. Oetker invests tens of

millions in the expansion of its site in Bielefeld. The research

and development (R&D) department will move into the new

building at the end of 2016.

The initial public offering (IPO) of Hella KGaA Hueck & Co.

wins the prestigious IFR Award in London. Alongside Citigroup,

Bankhaus Lampe prepared the IPO over a long period, developed

a bespoke transaction structure and placed the shares.

Based on a cooperation agreement between Hamburg Süd and

United Arab Shipping Company S.A.G. (UASC) on the exchange

of capacities on vessels, Hamburg Süd has been entering the

Asia-Europe and Asia-North America markets step by step

since the end of 2014. These markets were systematically built

up and expanded over the course of 2015.

Beginning of the long-term partnership between the Radeberger

Group and PepsiCo Germany: the Group is successively taking

over the previously regionally divided concessions for PepsiCo

brands for bars and restaurants as well as cash-and-carry beverage

stores that are not affiliated with food retailers. It will gradually

become the exclusive PepsiCo partner for these sales channels.

February Hamburg Süd and CMA CGM are expanding their existing

partnership. In addition to the joint services already in place

between Northern Europe and the west and east coasts of South

America, they will work together on further routes. At the be-

ginning of 2015, for example, they started a joint service from

Asia through the Panama Canal to the US east coast and on-

ward to Northern Europe and back.

With Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Alkoholfrei, the Schöfferhofer

Mix range is extended by a nonalcoholic variant of the popular

grapefruit variety. According to Nielsen, the product is the most

successful new product launch of 2015 in the beer and beer

mix segment and wins numerous awards.

The Oetker GroupHighlights 2015

March New name, new logo, new design: Dr. Oetker Food Service

becomes Dr. Oetker Professional, the brand for high-quality

products in the out-of-home market. The new look visualizes the

rigorous focus on professional users and bulk consumers even

more clearly.

Hamburg Süd takes over the container line business of the

shipping line Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica

S.A. (CCNI), based in Valparaiso and Santiago de Chile, and the

associated agency operations. The integration of the CCNI line

services, completed in 2015, is strengthening the Hamburg

Süd line network from and to South America.

With Henkell Alkoholfrei there is now a perfect product at

celebrations for all those who would rather forgo alcohol but want

the complete sparkling wine experience. This sparkling, non-

alcoholic addition to the Henkell brand family distinguishes itself

through a unique f lavor, which can stand comparison with

“real” sparkling wine.

Acquisition in Mexico: Dr. Oetker acquires D’Gari and

enters the Mexican market for gelatin desserts known in the

English-speaking world as “jelly”.

April Budenheim goes public with a 30-minute company docu-

mentary. In the SWR TV series “made in Südwest”, the chemicals

specialist presents its products, displays local ties, offers a

rare insight into production and introduces the people behind

its premium performance.

The new variety Zitrone-Bergamotte from Bionade picks up on

the lemony classic, adds the exceptional bergamot f lavor and

creates a unique, refreshing drink, which tastes drier, fruitier and

less sweet than other lemonades. Over the course of the year,

the new Bionade variety proves its worth and wins the gold award

from the leading German food magazine “Lebensmittel Praxis”

as the Product of the Year 2016.

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