Kerry Group sales up by 7.9%

KERRY Group has reported a 7.9% year-on-year increase in overall sales for the first nine months of this year.

In a trading update for the first nine months of this year, the Tralee-headquartered diversified food group said that the three months up to the end of September saw a continuation of good organic growth within the business.

In August, the group reported an 8% year-on-year rise in first half pre-tax profits to €175 million and an 8.4% increase to €2.6 billion in revenue.

Business volumes, during the period in question, were up by 3.6% and 2.6% in the Americas region and the combined Europe, Middle-East and Africa region respectively, and by 10.1% in the Asia-Pacific region; while group net debt was slightly up on the half-way stage of this year, at €1.2bn.

Management at Kerry Group said yesterday that the company is “confident” of achieving its growth targets for the current full year.

That equates to a reiteration of its earlier guidance of 8%-to-12% growth in full-year adjusted earnings per share.

Kerry added that while the Irish consumer foods market — which is no longer the group’s core division — “remains difficult, as consumers continue to seek value propositions and retailers respond through deeper promotional activities”, its market share has remained stable, but some growth has been evident through the launch of value lines.

“Performance in the private label spreads and cheese sector in the UK, was adversely impacted by heavy promotional campaigns by major brands,” it added.

“Overall performance was above industry average, but varied across end-use-markets and regional markets, due to cost pressures arising from raw material pricing,” the group added.

The company said the formal conclusion to its recent acquisition of the international flavours business of US food group, Cargill, would happen before the end of the year.