Aryzta reports revenue up 15%

Revenue at baked goods' producer Aryzta rose to €1.17 billion in the third quarter of the year, 15 per cent higher than the same period last year, though the company's European business's underlying revenue declined.

The Zurich-based company reiterated its full-year guidance of earnings per share for the full year of 338 cent.

Excluding the impact of Origin, in which Aryzta has a majority shareholding, Aryzta's main food business experienced a 10.8 per cent increase, though most of this was due to acquired businesses and currency conversions, with underlying like-for-like growth reaching 2.5 per cent. This underlying growth figure was slightly below analysts' expectations.

The company's European division, which accounts for around 44 per cent of revenue, continued to be affected by dampened consumer demand. While the division grew its revenue by 6.7 per cent, acquisitions accounted for 7.5 per cent of this. Underlying revenue declined by 2.6 per cent in the 13 week period, with underlying revenue declining by 1.1 per cent in the first nine months of the year.

According to the company,political and economic uncertainty in Europe has been compounded by the implementation of price inflation to reflect cost inflation, which has presented an "additional challenge."

The company's North America division experienced a 12.4 per cent growth in revenue, while sales in the rest of the world increased by 27 per cent.

Origin, in which Aryzta has a majority ownership, last week posted results in line with expectations, reiterating its outlook of earnings per share of 44.5 cent per share for the full year.

Aryzta's chief executive Owen Killian said the results "reflect the benefit from previous acquisitions and improvement in channel mix. Weak consumer demand in Europe depressed underlying revenue in the period."

Aryzta was formed in 2008 after Swiss bakery group Hiestand and Irish company IAWS merged.

Earlier this year, Aryzta raised CHF 174,341,799 (€144 million) through a placing of 4.25 million new shares at a price of 41.00 per share with institutional investors.