Glanbia has reported a near 13% increase in profits (EBITA) for its 2016 financial year to €350m, as profit margins widened 100 basis points to 9.5%.

Revenues for the year increased less than 1% to €3.7bn.

Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) increased more than 11% year-on-year to 87.66c, which is the seventh consecutive year the business has delivered double-digit earnings growth.

Glanbia has announced a final dividend for 2016 of 13.31c per share, which represents a 10% increase on the previous year’s dividend payout.

In total, almost €40m will be returned to shareholders in dividends this year.

Commenting on the results, chief executive officer Siobhán Talbot said Glanbia had a strong performance across the group in 2016 and delivered a seventh year of double-digit earnings growth.

By division

Performance Nutrition

Performance Nutrition continues to drive the business, with revenues increasing 9% to just over €1bn and earnings growing by just under 20% to €163m.

Margins expanded by 140 basis points to 16.1%. Volumes in the division increased 5%, with 9.5% coming from acquisitions. Prices declined almost 5% during the year.

Glanbia Nutritionals

The ingredients business called Glanbia Nutritionals saw revenues flat (+0.5%) at €1.2bn for the year, while profits increased 5% to just under €112m.

Margins in the division expanded 30 basis points to 9.1%. Volumes were up 3.2%, which offset price declines of 2.8%.

Dairy Ireland

Dairy Ireland saw sales decline 2.7% to €616m. Profits in the business increased almost 7% to €31m, as margins grew by 50 basis points to 5%. Prices declined 5% last year as volumes increased 2%.

Joint ventures

Revenues from joint ventures fell 5% to €849m. Profits increased almost 13% to €44.7m, as margins expanded 90 basis points to 5.3%. Prices were back 4.9% in the year, primarily due to weak dairy markets.

Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GII) saw volumes increase 5.4% in 2016, with the group describing this as a solid performance in 2016.

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