Moy Park, the Northern Ireland-based poultry processor, will float on the London stock market next year if market conditions permit. Its owners, Marfrig, the Brazilian food processing company, confirmed the news this week after releasing third-quarter results which show Moy Park performing strongly.

Moy Park reported nine-month revenues of £1bn (€1.3bn) – an 18% increase on the same period last year. Gross profit for the period was up by 37% to £111m (€140m). This was helped by improvement in gross margins to just under 11%. Earnings (EBITDA) increased by 39% to £72m (€90m) while net margins were 7%.

Year-on-year sales volumes were up 2.9% to 157,700 tonnes while the average price paid per kg increased 6.9% to £2.20 (€2.80).

Moy Park cited a number of reasons for the strong performance, including the lower cost of grain coupled with a reduction in production and labour costs.

Domestic market

The domestic market (Ireland and the UK) accounts for almost 88% of Moy Park’s sales and has performed strongly so far this year with sales up 13%.

Year-on-year volumes sold in Ireland and the UK were up 2.3%, driven by sales of fresh meat and processed products. The average price per kg increased by 10.5%.

Volumes of exports were up 5.3%, driven by processed products such as frozen breaded chicken. Despite this volume increase, export sales revenues were back 8%, reflecting a 12.7% drop in prices.

Moy Park is an unquestionable growth story. Since 2008, annual sales have increased from £800m (€1bn) to an estimated £1.45bn (€1.83bn) this year. Almost £500m (€630m) has been invested in capital expenditure programmes over the last decade. This has provided the company with world-class facilities to ensure it remains cost-competitive and can drive innovation.

The IPO will provide the funding necessary to expand internationally, especially in Asian growth markets.