Prepared vegetables firm Bonduelle has reported a 1.8% increase in revenue on a like-for-like basis, to €2.89 billion, following what it described as a 'particularly dynamic' fourth quarter.
Overall growth was driven by the group's canned and frozen activities, it said, while its fresh ready-to-eat business in North America was down.
'Demonstrated Resilience'
'In a context once again disrupted by the sanitary crisis, a difficult climate, coupled with geopolitical tensions and their consequences, the group once again demonstrated the resilience of its business,' it said in a statement.
In the group's Europe Zone business, revenue for the full year came in at €1.36 billion, a 6.7% increase, or 6.9% higher on a like-for-like basis.
This was boosted by a strong Q4, in which Europe Zone sales came in 13.4% higher, at €357.5 million.
In its Non-Europe Zone operations, full-year revenue was 1.8% higher, or 2.4% lower on a like-for-like basis.
The group noted that currency fluctuations had a favourable effect of 2.3% on the group's full-year growth, with a 'significant appreciation' of the US and Canadian dollars.
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Challenges Ahead
Looking ahead, the group noted an 'unprecedented wave of inflation affecting all cost components', while also adding that a recovery process in its North American fresh ready-to-eat business has 'begun, but is more difficult than expected'.
It said that these challenges have led it to 'review its medium-term profitability prospects, which may result in the impairment of tangible and/or intangible assets and deferred tax assets of this business'.
In July, the business said that it was lowering its profit targets due to an 'unprecedented' inflation wave.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Fresh Produce news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
