Swedish oat drinks maker Oatly has reported a 1.8% year-on-year increase in revenue to $199.2 million (€186.2 million) in the first quarter of its financial year, driven by growth across its Europe & International and North America business segments.
Gross margin for the quarter increased by 9.7 percentage points compared to the year-ago period to 27.1%, the company noted.
Chief executive of Oatly, Jean-Christophe Flatin commented, “In the first quarter, our brand remained strong, our volumes moved in the right direction, our costs structurally came down while also benefiting from timing, and our business became stronger.
“We are clearly making progress on the three strategic pillars we are focusing on in 2024: bring the Oatly magic to more people, continue our work on the calibration of resources, and focus on execution. Overall, we are off to an encouraging start to the year.”
The company also closed in on net loss attributable to shareholders as well as adjusted EBITDA loss.
Its net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent company was $45.8 million (€42.8 million), down from $75.6 million (€70.7 million) in the first quarter of 2023.
Adjusted EBITDA loss amounted to $13.2 million (€12.3 million), which is an improvement of $36.7 million (€34.3 million) compared to the prior year period.
Divisional Performance
The Europe & International segment saw revenue growth of 9.9% to $110.4 million (€103.2 million), from $100.5 million (€93.9 million)in the first quarter of 2023.
This increase in revenue was primarily driven by volume, as well as price increases introduced during the first part of 2023.
The unit generated approximately 82% of revenue from the retail channel compared to 83% in the prior year quarter.
The sold finished goods volume for the three months ended 31 March 2024 and 2023 amounted to 77 and 74 million litres, respectively, the company noted.
EBITDA in the division increased to $14.5 million (€13.6 million) from $7.3 million (€6.8 million) in the comparable quarter, driven by higher gross profit, partially offset by investments in selling, general and administrative expenses.
The North America segment generated $67.0 million (€62.6 million) in revenue during the quarter, up from $64.0 million (€59.8 million) in the year-ago period.
Approximately 54% of revenue in the division was from the retail channel compared to 52% in the same quarter last year.
Adjusted EBITDA improved $9.9 million to a loss of $0.4 million compared to a loss of $10.3 million in the prior year period, Oatly added.
Outlook 2024
The company reiterated its full-year 2024 outlook, which includes constant currency revenue growth in the range of 5% to 10%, adjusted EBITDA loss in the range of $35 million to $60 million, and capital expenditures below $75 million.
Flatin added, “While we are pleased with this progress to date, we recognise we are only one quarter into our year, and we know we need to continue driving results and gaining traction on our strategic actions as we drive toward structural, consistent profitable growth. Accordingly, our full-year guidance remains unchanged.”
