Natra, S.A. announced consolidated earnings results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014. For the quarter, net business turnover was EUR 85,805,000, profit from operations was EUR 2,489,000, loss before taxes was EUR 926,000, loss from continued operations was EUR 1,100,000, net loss was EUR 1,100,000 and loss attributable to shareholders of the main company was EUR 2,344,000 against net business turnover of EUR 88,109,000, profit from operations of EUR 5,035,000, profit before taxes of EUR 2,208,000, results from continued operations of EUR 1,616,000, net result of EUR 1,601,000 and loss attributable to shareholders of the main company of EUR 245,000 a year ago. At March 31, 2014, Natra's net financial debt stood at EUR 153.19 million, 1.3 less than at year-end 2013.

The difference in net profit is mainly due to the above-mentioned reasons relative to the deterioration of the business' operational profitability due to the impact of increased cocoa prices during the cocoa and chocolate business' off-season, coupled with the change in the pharmaceutical channel's procurement model in the case of Natraceutical. As a direct result of this fact, and despite a reduction in operating costs, the EBITDA for the first quarter was adjusted to EUR 2.61 million, compared to EUR 2.94 million in the same period during the previous year. Meanwhile, net income stood at EUR 2.52 million, compared to EUR 2.88 million in the first quarter of 2013.

The EBITDA of the cocoa and chocolate business in the first quarter of the year was EUR 2.73 million, compared to EUR 4.90 million in the first quarter of 2013, in accordance with the company's expectations. This evolution of the turnover was mainly due to the weak consumption in Europe, responsible for 90.6% of the business' total sales, and which registered a drop in sales of 2.2% for Natra's overall cocoa and chocolate activity. The company reported EBITDA of EUR 5.34 million, decreased 46.6%.