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27 May 2009 - 00:00

Board of Directors changes at the upcoming Annual General Meeting

This notice covers three separate Danisco events: Changes to the Board of Directors (BoD); a Trading Statement lifting our FY 2008/09 EBIT outlook by DKK 75-100 million; and Information regarding increased financial disclosure.

Notice no. 08/2009

Changes to Danisco’s Board of Directors
The Chairman of Danisco’s Board of Directors, Anders Knutsen (elected to the BoD in 1997), and two further Board members, Peter Højland (elected to the BoD in 1998) and Matti Vuoria (elected to the BoD in 1999), will not stand for re-election at Danisco’s upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on 20 August 2009.

Anders Knutsen comments: ’During my seven years as Chairman of Danisco’s BoD, I have worked for Danisco to become a pure play, bio-based ingredients company. Having now divested Sugar, Danisco is ready to enter a new and challenging era with focus on value creation and on leveraging our capabilities. Following discussions with some of Danisco’s largest shareholders, I have decided not to stand for re-election at the upcoming AGM.’

Mr Jørgen Tandrup, the Board’s current Deputy Chairman, has expressed his willingness to assume the position as Chairman after the upcoming AGM to ensure continuity on the BoD.

Danisco’s BoD is now in the process of identifying new candidates for the three available Board positions, the competences of whom should reflect Danisco’s strategic intent. The Board has appointed a nomination committee consisting of three current Board members (the Chairmanship and Mr Håkan Björklund) as well as external recruitment services. The chosen candidates will be announced along with the AGM invitation, which we expect to publish by the end of July 2009.

Danisco’s BoD currently consists of Anders Knutsen (Chairman), Jørgen Tandrup (Deputy Chairman, elected to the BoD in 2002), Håkan Björklund (elected to the BoD in 2004), Kirsten Drejer (elected to the BoD in 2006), Lis Glibstrup (employee elected in 2002), Peter Højland, Flemming Kristensen (employee elected in 2005) and Matti Vuoria. For further details on the Board, please visit www.danisco.com.

Trading statement
In March 2009, we stated that we were facing an unusually high degree of uncertainty in our financial outlook for the remaining quarter of the financial year 2008/09 due to the global economic recession and resulting weaker customer demand, not least in January 2009. We believe it is appropriate at this stage to offer a brief trading statement – based on unaudited results for the full year 2008/09.

In Q4 2008/09, we recorded revenue of around DKK 3.3 billion, or around 2% growth Y/Y. Organic growth for the quarter was flat. This brings revenue for the full year to DKK 13.0 billion and organic growth to around 4%.

In March 2009, we stated that we expected to report EBIT of around DKK 1,150 million after expenses of around DKK 50 million relating to Bio Chemicals Projects (Goodyear) and before share-based payments and special items. Based on the unaudited figures, we now expect to be able to report DKK 1,225-1,250 million after Bio Chemicals Projects (Goodyear) expenses of DKK 40 million.

Our full, audited FY 2008/09 results are still due to be released on 24 June 2009, along with our outlook for FY 2009/10.

Danisco increasing financial disclosure
We have decided to increase transparency by increasing the number of financial reporting segments from the current two segments (Food Ingredients and Genencor) to four (Enablers, Cultures, Sweeteners and Genencor). Previously, Cultures and Sweeteners were shown as one cluster – Bio Actives – whilst all activities except for Genencor were grouped as one segment – Food Ingredients.

This structure will be implemented already from FY 2008/09, thus implementing IFRS 8 one year ahead of the legal requirement. In order to allow our external stakeholders time to prepare for this increased level of information prior to the release of our full-year results in June, we have attached an appendix (included in the PDF below) to this release that includes eleven quarters of restated segmental data.

We remain fully committed to our Food Ingredients and Bio Actives platforms and will continue to communicate and report on activities within these areas even if they are no longer defined as financial reporting segments. Thus, the leadership structure around Food Ingredients and Bio Actives also remains intact.

Yours faithfully

Anders Knutsen, Chairman, and Tom Knutzen, CEO

For further information, please contact
Investor Relations: Julie Quist, tel.: +45 3266 2912, investor@danisco.com
Media Relations: tel.: +45 3266 2913, media@danisco.com

Download the full release, including appendix, in English
Download the full release, including appendix, in Danish

Investor Relations
Michael von Bülow
Vice President Communications
E-mail: sfmvb@danisco.com
Direct tel.: +45 3266 2920
Mobile: +45 2149 2305
 
Julie Quist
Sr. Investor Relations Officer
E-mail: sfjqj@danisco.com
Direct tel: +45 3266 2925
Mobile: +45 2051 6887
 
Shareholders Secretariat
Sara Skov Nielsen
E-mail: sfssn@danisco.com
Direct tel.: +45 3266 2933
 
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