Group EBIT came in at minus €0.6 million compared to €1.4 million for the same period last year.

The company said the negative figure was down to the difficulties experienced by the business in Sweden in the early part of the year.

Performance in the Group’s other market areas in Finland, the Baltics, Denmark and Poland was according to plan, the company said.

It added that market position remains for the most part strong in all the Group’s market areas. In Sweden, increased volumes of meat sold under private labels and growth in imports have weakened the outlook.

At the end of March HKScan signed a five-year €250 million secured multi-currency credit facility agreement.

Net financial expenses for the period were minus €7.9 million compared to minus €5.2 m). Higher loan margins were the main reason for the rise.

HKScan announced in early April the launch of a development programme to be implemented until the end of 2013. The aim of the programme, which covers Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Baltics, is to achieve annual performance improvements exceeding €20 million and considerable reductions in invested capital.

Because of the weakened outlook for the business in Sweden, there is a risk that the Group’s EBIT for 2012 will come out below the level of 2011. Previously it was estimated that the EBIT for 2012 will be better than in 2011.