PARIS: French sugar and ethanol group Tereos on Wednesday reported a jump in third-quarter core earnings as high prices helped offset a poor harvest in Brazil.

Tereos, the world’s second largest sugar maker by volume, said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter ending Dec. 31 rose 65% at constant exchanges rates to 223 million euros ($254 million).

It confirmed a goal to reach EBITDA on a 12-month rolling basis of 600-700 million euros by the end of September 2022. For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, EBITDA came to 516 million euros. The French cooperative expects sugar prices to remain high as it sees the world market remaining in deficit for a third year in a row while Europe faces supply tensions.

For its starch business, where increased volumes supported the third-quarter results, Tereos said it would pass on rising cereal and energy costs in sale prices.

Soaring gas prices had a limited impact on the group in recent months due to hedging but are expected to weigh more on its European sugar results from this quarter, Tereos added. The company said this week that CEO Philippe de Raynal was leaving the group after only a year and would be replaced on an interim basis by Chief Financial Officer Gwenael Elies.

De Raynal’s team, which made deleveraging the heavily indebted cooperative a priority, undertook a wide-ranging review of its activities.