Bakery ingredients group CSM booked a sharp drop in net first-half profits, as the rising cost of raw materials pressured pricing policy.

CSM booked turnover of €1.5bn, up from €1.4bn in the 2010 first half. But net profit fell from €54m in 2010 to almost €30m. The company had issued a profit warning in July.
‘Increasing selling prices to compensate for higher costs remained the most important focus in the first half of 2011, resulting in an average price increase of 7.4% driving an organic sales growth of 4.3%,’ the company said in a statement.