Tereos' net debt jumped 22% after the first nine months of its fiscal year. It amounted to €2.9 billion for a turnover of €4.7 billion over the period. The world's fourth largest sugar producer indicates that this evolution is due to "the sharp rise in raw materials and energy, which has mechanically led to an increase inworking capital requirements and impacted the level of debt. This impact will persist into the fourth quarter." The cooperative group warns that at the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, net debt will be up compared to the end of March of the previous year. Debt reduction is, however, a priority objective for Tereos. The beet growers who overturned the management in 2020 had made it a major grievance. Since then, the sugar giant has sold several activities with the stated aim of reducing the weight of this debt. Tereos sold its starch division in September 2021 in China, then it divested itself of its assets in Mozambique and finally, in early February, the Ludus sugar factory in Romania. The group said it had issued a new bond issue on January 24 for 350 million euros, in order to improve its financial structure while extending the maturity of its debt.