Nasdaq CopenhagenIFRS · EUR

CHR. HANSEN HOLDING A/S

CHR. HANSEN HOLDING A/S is a Danish bioscience company focused on microbial and enzyme solutions used in food production, nutrition, and health applications. Its business centers on cultures, probiotics, and enzymes sold to industrial customers worldwide through a global group structure headquartered in Denmark.

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Revenue352m EUR
+13.8 %y/y
Operating profit (EBIT)91.1m EUR
+20.8 %y/y
EBIT margin25.9%
+1.5 ppy/y
Net income60.2m EUR
+21.6 %y/y
Free cash flow67.7m EUR
+227.1 %y/y

Fiscal year 2023 · change from previous year

Development 2020–2023

02505007501,0001,250m EUR2020: 1,077 m EUR2020: EBIT 276 m EUR20202021: 1,218 m EUR2021: EBIT 321 m EUR20212022: 310 m EUR2022: EBIT 75 m EUR20222023: 352 m EUR2023: EBIT 91 m EUR202335291
RevenueOperating profit (EBIT)
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Business

Share of revenue
Food Cultures & Enzymes55 %

Cultures, starter systems, and enzymes used in food processing and fermentation.

Health & Nutrition30 %

Probiotic ingredients and microbial solutions for human health applications.

Agriculture & Feed15 %

Microbial products used in animal nutrition, feed efficiency, and agricultural applications.

Customers

The company sells mainly to industrial food producers, ingredient formulators, and nutrition companies that incorporate microbial solutions into finished products. Its end markets include dairy, fermented foods, dietary supplements, and agricultural/feed applications, where customers value product consistency, functionality, and application support. Demand is driven by processing needs, formulation performance, and regulatory acceptance in end-use markets.

Dairy and fermented food producers

Buy starter cultures and enzymes to make yogurt, cheese, and other fermented products.

Health and nutrition companies

Buy probiotic ingredients for supplements and functional nutrition products.

Food ingredient processors

Buy cultures and enzymes to improve yield, texture, flavor, and shelf life.

Feed and agriculture customers

Buy microbial solutions used in animal nutrition and farm productivity.

Strategy

The company’s strategy is built around expanding microbial and enzyme applications, supported by innovation, application support, and long customer relationships. It also emphasizes scaling in adjacent markets such as health and agricultural microbiology, where its strain libraries and fermentation expertise can be reused across products.

Expand application breadthMedium term

Broader use cases increase the addressable market for its microbial platform.

Strengthen innovation pipelineMedium term

New strains and formulations help defend pricing and create differentiated products.

Scale adjacenciesMedium term

Adjacent categories reuse existing know-how and customer relationships.

Geography

Chr. Hansen serves customers across Europe, the Americas, and Asia through a global sales and application network. The business is internationally diversified, with demand tied to food, health, and agricultural markets in multiple regions, while manufacturing and technical support are organized globally to serve local customer requirements.

Risks

The business is exposed to customer concentration in industrial food and nutrition markets, where product qualification cycles can be long and switching costs can still be meaningful. It also faces commodity, supply-chain, and geopolitical pressure because microbial products rely on global manufacturing, transport, and raw-material availability. Scientific, regulatory, and intellectual-property risks are important because product performance and approval standards directly affect commercialization.

Sorted by severity
LowMediumHighLowMediumHighImpact →Likelihood →Regulatory and food-safety compliance1Supply-chain disruption2Customer adoption and qualification risk3Intellectual property and strain protection4
Impact is the risk’s severity and likelihood how probable it is over the next few years, both assessed from the company’s reports. Numbers match the list.
  1. Regulatory and food-safety complianceImpact: HighLikelihood: High

    Cultures, probiotics, and feed applications must meet local regulatory standards before use.

    Exposure: Product approval and market access

  2. Supply-chain disruptionImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium

    The company relies on global production, logistics, and cold-chain or controlled handling for some products.

    Exposure: Manufacturing and distribution network

  3. Customer adoption and qualification riskImpact: MediumLikelihood: High

    Industrial customers often test microbial solutions extensively before switching suppliers.

    Exposure: Sales cycle length and conversion

  4. Intellectual property and strain protectionImpact: MediumLikelihood: Medium

    Performance differentiation depends on proprietary strains and know-how.

    Exposure: R&D and portfolio value

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Accounting

Judgemental items
Goodwill and intangible impairment

The balance sheet includes acquired technology and brands that must be tested for impairment.

Impact: Could materially change reported earnings and equity

Foreign exchange translation

Global operations create currency effects on revenue, costs, and balance-sheet translation.

Impact: Can affect reported growth and profitability

Inventory valuation

Specialized microbial products may require write-downs if demand or shelf life changes.

Impact: Can affect gross margin and working capital

Hedge accounting

Currency and input-price exposure may be hedged, affecting timing of gains and losses.

Impact: Can shift earnings between periods

Last updated: 24/10/2026