Glanbia upgraded its full-year guidance on improved outlook for margins in its performance nutrition business in the second half of the year.
In an interim management statement for the three months ended April 1st, 2023, the nutrition group said it was increasing its expectations for growth to between 7 and 11 per cent growth in adjusted earnings per share.
The first quarter of the year was in line with expectations, Glanbia said, with group revenue down more than 3 per cent year on year. Pricing was up 3.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis, with volumes down 6.2 per cent. The net impact of acquisitions and disposals showed 0.3 per cent growth.
In the performance nutrition sector, revenue rose 2.9 per cent, with volume down 9.2 per cent. Glanbia’s Optimum Nutrition brand trends showed strong revenue growth during the quarter. In the United States, 12-week consumption growth was 36.1 per cent. Full-year margins for the performance nutrition sector are expected to grow to between 12.5 per cent and 13.5 per cent.
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In the nutritional solutions sector, like-for-like revenue was down more than 16 per cent on lower volumes as pricing increased 1 per cent. The 17 per cent decline in volume was driven by what Glanbia described as customer supply chain rebalancing, which the group expects to normalise later in the year.
The sale of the group’s interest in cheese joint ventures was completed at the end of April, with Glanbia receiving €178.9 million.
The company’s net debt at the start of April was $604.8 million, down $5.6 million compared with the same period a year earlier. The group had $1.3 billion in committed debt facilities at the end of the quarter.
“Overall, the first quarter has progressed largely as expected for the group and we are pleased to be upgrading our full-year guidance for growth in group-adjusted EPS to 7 per cent to 11 per cent, constant currency,” said group managing director Siobhán Talbot.
“We continued the portfolio evolution and recently completed the sale of the plc’s holding in the Glanbia Cheese joint ventures to our joint venture partner, Leprino Foods. As a result, we have increased and extended the share buyback programme announced on March 1st, from €50 million to €100 million.”
Glanbia also appointed Gabriella Parisse, current president and chief executive of Velcro Companies, as independent non-executive director from June 1st. That follows the retirement of Patsy Ahern and John Murphy from the board, reducing Tirlán’s representation on the board to three directors.
