Kerry Group has reported its first set of results since the sale of Kerry Dairy Ireland to Kerry Co-op was completed. The numbers for the first six months of this year saw a 1.3% increase in revenue to €3.46bn and a 7.8% increase in adjusted earnings per share to 209.2c.

The company announced an interim dividend of 42c per share, a 10.2% increase from the 2024 interim dividend. The group maintained its earnings-per-share guidance for the full year of between 7% and 11% growth on a constant currency adjusted basis.

Commenting on the results, Kerry CEO Edmond Scanlon said that “the first half of the year reflected a good performance particularly given market conditions”, adding that the company remains well positioned for volume growth and strong margin expansion for the remainder of the year, despite the heightened level of market uncertainty.

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The company said that the demand environment across food and beverage markets remained soft in the first half of 2025, which was reflective of cautious consumer behaviour given the level of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty across different geographies.

Enzyme capacity

Among the business developments noted during the period was the expansion in enzyme capacity at the company’s facility in Carrigaline, Co Cork.

The company also announced the intention of Gerry Behan to retire as an executive director at the end of this year.

Behan, who joined Kerry in 1986 is one of the three senior executives at the group, along with CEO Edmond Scanlon and CFO Marguerite Larkin. Chair Tom Moran expressed gratitude on behalf of the board of Kerry to Behan for his “exceptional contribution to the growth and development of Kerry” and wished him the very best for the future.

Investor reaction to the results announced on Wednesday was far from positive, with the company’s share price dropping below €80 at the start of trading following the earnings release.

While more than half of those losses were recovered in the following hours, shares were still nursing losses of more than 5% by mid-morning.

The sale of Kerry Dairy Ireland to Kerry Co-op at the end of 2024 led to the distribution of 16.2m Kerry shares to co-op members.

At the time, those shares were close to €100 each. A drop to €85 per share equates to a loss of €243m for those shareholders since the distribution.