Kerry Group reports a 10.3% increase in revenues in ‘solid’ start to the year

Food and ingredients business Kerry Group reported a 10.3 per cent increase in revenues in the first three months of the year, as the Irish food group reaffirmed its full year guidance of growth of 6-10 per cent.

In an interim statement published on Thursday, Kerry Group said that business volume growth was 3.3 per cent, with taste & nutrition up by 3.8 per cent and consumer foods up by 0.8 per cent. Pricing overall was down by 0.2 per cent.

In taste and nutrition, growth was driven by driven by meat, snacks and dairy end se markets, with pricing down by -0.1 per cent “reflective of customer partnership agreements with relatively neutral raw material costs”.

In consumer foods, pricing fell by 0.3 per cent, reflecting “primarily lower raw material input costs”, with the Denny brand growing strongly in Ireland.

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Edmond Scanlon, Kerry Group chief executive, said it was a "solid start" to the year, with overall business performance in line with expectations.

“The group continued to deliver volume growth ahead of the market while expanding trading margin. We are pleased with our innovation pipeline and the continued enhancement of our product mix,” he said, adding that the recently announced acquisitions have performed “very well”.

“In summary, we are encouraged by our progress in the quarter and reaffirm our full year 2019 guidance of adjusted earnings per share growth of 6 per cent to 10 per cent in constant currency,” he said.