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Revenue for Kerry Group is up 4.9% and earnings are up €40m on the same period in 2020.
The first half of the year saw Kerry announce a number of important strategic developments.
Subsequently, Kerry Group share price has risen from around €106 per share to €126 per share over the last number of weeks.
Acquisitions
As previously announced, Kerry reached an agreement to acquire Niacet for €853m, which is a global market leader in technologies for food protection and preservation. It is expected to complete this purchase at the end of the third quarter.
Also, as previously announced, Kerry reached an agreement for the disposal of its Consumer Foods’ Meats and Meals business to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation for a cash consideration of €819m.
Kerry also had some smaller investments in the acquisition of National Vinegar Company for €25m and the acquisition of Biosearch SA, which is a leading biotechnology company based in Spain, for €127m.
It also reached agreement for the acquisition of Natreon Inc with facilities in the US and India for €42m.
Half-year numbers
Kerry reported revenue in the period increased by 4.9% to €3.6bn, reflecting a volume increase of 9%, increased pricing of 0.5%, an adverse transaction currency impact of 0.1%, an adverse translation currency impact of 5.4% and contribution from acquisitions of 0.9%.
The interim dividend of 28.5c per share reflects an increase of 10% from the prior year interim dividend
Trading profit increased by 13% to €357m in the period. Group trading profit margin increased by 70bps to 10%, primarily due to the recovery of operating leverage given the impact of COVID-19 in the prior year.
Constant currency adjusted earnings per share increased by 24.1% to 152c (H1 2020: -19.8%). Basic earnings per share increased to 128.2c (H1 2020: 120.4c).
The interim dividend of 28.5c per share reflects an increase of 10% from the prior year interim dividend. The group achieved free cashflow of €222m (H1 2020: €107m) representing cash conversion of 83% in the period.
These results are not full financial statements and were not reviewed or audited by the group’s auditors.
'Pleased with performance'
Chief executive officer of Kerry Group Edmond Scanlon said: “We are pleased with overall performance in the period, reflecting continued strong growth in our retail channel, with good progression and momentum in food service, while lapping lower prior year levels.
We had some notable strategic developments this year as we continued to evolve our portfolio
“The Americas had good overall volume growth, Europe delivered an excellent relative performance, while growth in APMEA remained strong despite challenging conditions in some local markets.
“A number of our end-use markets had strong category development in the period, with beverage in particular achieving excellent growth. We had some notable strategic developments this year as we continued to evolve our portfolio.”
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