Revenue growth pushes Glanbia's profits higher

The company returned over €91.3m last year to shareholders via buybacks

Siobhán Talbot, group managing director of Glanbia, said earnings were well ahead of expectations.

Glanbia increased profits last year to €167.4m on the back of a strong recovery in its performance nutrition portfolio.

The food producer delivered earnings per share (EPS) of 87.15c, up 22.1% on last year which was at the upper end of its forecast range.

In its full-year results, published yesterday, Glanbia said it anticipates the effects of Covid-19 will further abate but the ongoing impact of cost inflation, especially dairy-related, will need to continue to be actively managed. 

In November, the food ingredients giant announced plans to exit the dairy businesses in Ireland, agreeing to sell its 40% stake in Glanbia Ireland to Glanbia Co-Op for €307m, to concentrate on making ingredients for food producers and protein supplements for bodybuilders. 

Glanbia delivered revenues of €4.2bn, a 13.1% increase on 2020.

"Good revenue growth delivered an increase of 23.9% in adjusted EPS, constant currency, for continuing operations," Siobhán Talbot, group managing director, said.

"This was well ahead of our expectations at the beginning of 2021 and was driven by strong global consumer demand in Glanbia’s areas of nutrition expertise across ingredient solutions and our portfolio of nutrition brands. 

"Our robust and effective operational execution delivered an excellent cash performance with 100.2% cash conversion in the year."

The company returned over €91.3m last year to shareholders via share buybacks as well as raising its dividend by 10%. 

Yesterday, the company announced a new €50m share buyback.

"Based on today’s market environment and current expectations for the remainder of the year, we expect adjusted EPS growth for continuing operations of 2% to 8%, constant currency for [financial year] 2022, with growth primarily driven by Glanbia Nutritionals, Nutritional Solutions," Ms Talbot said.

In an update on the Glanbia Ireland disposal, the company said it is expected that this transaction will close before Jun,e with €307m to be paid in cash on closing. 

Glanbia will continue to provide certain corporate, business, and IT services to Glanbia Ireland for a number of years following the close of the transaction. 

Glanbia will continue to be a customer of Glanbia Ireland for certain ingredients. 

Within 18 months of completion, Glanbia Ireland is required to change its name to a new name that does not include the name or word ‘Glanbia’.