News

World Reef Conference rescheduled The Chicago Marine Aquarium Society (CMAS) has announced that the World Reef Conference has been rescheduled. CMAS and H.H. Backer Associates will co-locate their events at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont (Chicago) in October 2010. Boyd Corbett, co-chair of the organisation committee, stated that the change in dates is a fiscally responsible move that will ensure maximum participation at the World Reef Conference 2010. New merger in Belgium The Belgian company Fides Petfood has acquired the pet food division of Trouw Nutrition. Fides Petfood and Beduco both belong to Group Depré, a group of family companies with annual sales of over € 170 million. The group specialises in pet food for working animals, sports animals and pets. The number of employees in the pet division will thus double in the future to 30 people. Production capa-city will triple to 50 000 tonnes. Half-year results 2009 Provimi Group, one of the world leaders in animal nutrition, has published a trading update on its consolidated results for the first six months of the year. Revenues decreased by 23.3 per cent to € 840.6 million, which was largely due to lower sales prices resulting from decreased raw material costs. The net impact of acquisitions and divestments was € 29.8 million negative, while unfavourable exchange rates had a negative effect of € 69.9 million. On a like-for-like basis, sales decreased by 17.3 per cent. Profit from operations before other operating income decreased to € 49.1 million. Exchange rates had a negative effect of € 2.3 million. Performance continued to improve, especially in pet food, with sales growth accelerating in existing countries and the opening of new markets and new accounts, notably in Germany, Poland, and Romania. Service levels to customers and operational efficiency improved, opening new growth opportunities for the group’s pet food activities. PetSmart: services prove to be a growth driver The leading US pet speciality chain PetSmart has reported net income of $ 39.0 million for the second quarter of 2009. That compares with net income of $ 37.2 million for the second quarter of 2008. Net sales increased 5.4 percent to $ 1.31 billion, compared to the same period in 2008. The increase in net sales was partially impacted by $ 8.6 million in unfavourable foreign currency fluctuations. Comparable store sales – or sales in stores open at least a year – grew 0.8 percent in the second quarter. Pet…