Taste and nutrition firm Kerry Group has seen 'strong' growth across its business in its most recent quarter amid a volatile market, the company said in a trading update.
Year-to-date revenue up to the third quarter increased by 16.1%, while EBITDA grew by 12.6%.
The group reported year-to-date volume growth of 6.6% (Q3: +6.2%), with pricing up by 10.6% (Q3: +15.3%).
Edmond Scanlon, chief executive officer of Kerry Group, stated, "Our volume growth was broad-based across our regions, channels and markets, led by excellent performances in snacks, beverage, meat and bakery in particular. We also made good strategic progress with further footprint expansion and strategic acquisitions."
Outlook
Kerry Group is confident in its ability to continue to manage through the inflationary cycle with its pricing model and cost initiatives.
Scanlon stated, "While we recognise the current level of uncertainty in the marketplace, we feel very well positioned as we continue to support our customers in addressing the various market challenges and opportunities.
"Given we have now reported the third quarter, we are updating our full-year earnings guidance to 6% to 8% growth on a constant currency basis.”
Divisional Performance
The group's Taste & Nutrition business continued to witness strong volume growth across regions, channels and end-use markets, despite the impact of increased pricing.
The division reported overall volume growth of 8.5% in the first nine months, with third-quarter growth of 8.2%.
The foodservice channel continued its momentum with double-digit volume growth, underpinned by increased LTO and seasonal offerings, combined with solutions to reduce operational complexity, the company noted.
The retail channel also delivered strong growth with customers looking for increased innovation and renovation of its product offering for new taste experiences within categories, as well as reducing food waste and providing more value options to consumers.
The Americas Region unit delivered overall volume growth of 9.3% in the first nine months with third-quarter growth of 9.6%.
Growth was driven by beverage, meat and bakery markets as well as its good performance in LATAM, led by Brazil and Mexico.
Europe And Other Regions
In Europe, good performance in snacks, dairy and meals resulted in broad-based growth across food and beverage markets.
The region reported overall volume growth of 6.2% in the first nine months, with third-quarter growth of 4.4%.
Central and Southern Europe witnessed strong growth, while its performance in Eastern Europe was impacted by the ongoing war in the region.
The APMEA region reported overall volume growth of 9.0%, with third-quarter growth of 8.6%.
Performance in the region was driven by good performance in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, partially offset by China.
Snacks, meat and bakery witnessed strong volume growth in the region, the company noted.
Elsewhere, Dairy Ireland witnessed overall volume growth of 1.8% (+1.0% in Q3) despite significant price increases across the business.
Within Dairy Consumer Products, the price increases led to lower overall category volumes.
The spreads category saw good performance across its customer-branded ranges.
Volumes in cheese snacking were impacted by reduced promotional activity in the period, Kerry Group added.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest A Brands news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
