Kerry Group reports 12.2% rise in profits despite sluggish market

Food group Kerry said today it was confident of achieving its full-year growth targets as it reported a 1.1 per cent increase in revenues for the six months to the end of June.

Profits after tax rose by 12.2 per cent to €117 million, up from €104.6 million in 2012 while revenues rose to €2.95 billion from €2.92 billion.

Kerry said its interim dividend per share increased by 11.1 per cent to 12 cent.

The company said results across its core ingredients & flavours and consumer foods business segments were “very encouraging” given the relatively sluggish overall market environment.

Chief executive Stan McCarthy said: “We remain confident of achieving our growth targets for the full year and delivering 7 per cent to 11 per cent growth in adjusted earnings per share to a range of 250 to 260 cent per share.”