Kerry Group reported an almost-20% jump in revenue to €8.8bn, with after-tax trading profits rising to €781m.
However, once the cost of non-trading items such as the withdrawal from Russia was taken into account, profit for the year fell to €606m.
Adjusted earnings per share rose to €4.40 and the company announced a final dividend of 73.4c, bringing total 2022 dividend to €1.04 per share.
The Dairy Ireland business saw volume increases of only 0.2% in 2022, with a drop of 4% in the final three months of the year compared to the same period in 2021. The effect of inflation was clear with revenues increasing 37.1% to €1.5bn despite the lack of volume growth.
Speaking on the results, Edmond Scanlon said: “As we marked Kerry’s 50th year in 2022, we achieved record organic revenue growth against the backdrop of an exceptionally dynamic operating environment.”
It is probably fair to see “exceptionally dynamic” as a euphemism for the difficulty the company faced from the exceptional jump in input prices during the year.
On the outlook for 2023, Kerry guided 3% to 7% earnings per share growth, saying the group is strongly positioned to continue to growth through the period.
Shares rose more than 4% to €91.30 in the wake of the announcement.
SHARING OPTIONS