Shareholders in Kerry Group plc will be hoping that there is some good news in the company’s preliminary financial results for 2022, which are published this morning (Thursday).

The share performance in 2022 has been nothing less than terrible. For holders of Kerry plc shares which have been exchanged at 5.9 to a co-op share, the loss since the start of last year is around €185 per co-op share (see chart below).

The board of Kerry can blame bad luck for some of the disappointing performance, with the loss of the business in Russia and Belarus and the surge in food and energy costs making for a difficult trading environment.

However, Kerry even looks bad when compared to its peers. In the last annual report it compared its share performance to the MSCI Europe Food Producers Index. That index dropped 5% in the year ending January 2023. Kerry lost more than 23% in the same period.

The Group is expected by analysts to announce a dividend of more than €1 per share and has guided adjusted earnings per share of €4.11. If it meets those targets, there is unlikely to be much of a bump in the share price.

A dividend yield of little more than 1% is not going to get anyone excited when interest rates on deposits are rising above that level.

What Kerry shareholders really need is a growth story to help them get excited, and that is a story the company has not been great at telling.