The annual general meeting of Kerry Group, held in the Rose Hotel in Tralee on Thursday 30 April, saw the board face numerous questions about the company’s share performance over the past year.

More than a quarter of the value has been wiped off the company’s share value over the past 12 months, so it is no wonder that the topic was one of the main issues raised.

Group CEO, Edmond Scanlon addressed the concerns by emphasising that management’s primary goal is to drive earnings of the company and to drive growth in the business. He cited the investment of about €3bn in acquisitions over the previous seven or eight years, while investing a similar amount into capital expenditure.

While Scanlon referred to the current uncertain geopolitical backdrop and the highest interest rates in more than a decade which helped drive share price movement, he said that this continued focus on driving returns and growth will ultimately drive the share price. He added that he did not think that the work already done around the portfolio, and around derisking and expanding the business, is reflected in the current share price.

After the AGM, the Irish Farmers Journal caught up with Julien Giuge, a Kerry Group shareholder based in southern Italy who flew in for the meeting.

“I think that Kerry should be focused on earnings growth,” Giuge said. “I’d like to see a target for EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation] of €1.5bn by 2027. At the moment Kerry talk about volume growth, I think this is not where the focus should be.

“We are not a commodity company, we’re not selling sugar, we’re selling solutions.”

Giuge, who sold a company he founded to Kerry Group in 2021, said that Kerry Group had changed how it reported earnings before and should do it again in order to give clarity to the market on the company’s performance.

He said that other companies do not emphasise volumes, they emphasise sales. “This means that the market can easily calculate the multiples for the company and value the shares appropriately.”