Kerry Group reports ‘solid financial performance’ for H1 2014
The re-launch of Denny Gold Medal Sausage and Denny Deli Style cooked meats stabilised the group's brand positions in Q2 within the cooked meats segments
Print8 August 2014
Kerry Group has reported a profit after tax of €194.7 million for the first half of 2014 – a 65.8% increase on the same period last year.
However, global sales revenue of €2.9 billion was unchanged from the first six months of last year. The ingredients, flavours and consumer foods group said trading profit rose by 3% on a reported basis to €275 million, representing 7.1% like-for-like growth.
In a press statement, consumer foods division, Kerry Foods said increased fragmentation of food retailing coupled with prioritised spend and drive for value by consumers in the Irish and UK markets continued to impact performance in its chilled foods categories. However, the division has continued to improve efficiencies through advanced lean programmes. Kerry Foods’ focus brands continue to perform well, particularly in the UK market.
Divisional revenue in the period reported at €801m reflects 0.9% lower underlying sales. Continuing business volumes (primarily due to reduced engagement in promotional activity) declined by 1.2% and net pricing increased by 0.2%. While trading profit decreased by 2.4% to €62m, the division’s trading margin improved by 10 basis points to 7.8%.
The group’s Irish brands continue to face intense competition from heavily promoted discounter and private-label offerings.
Since the period-end, Kerry Foods, which also includes Denny, Cheestrings and Dairygold within its Irish portfolio, introduced a novel children’s snack offering, Yollies yoghurt lolly range. Yollies has already achieved leading retailer listings in Ireland with a planned launch in the UK market later in the year.
As stated at the end of 2013, Kerry Foods is focused on strengthening the quality of its portfolio and repositioning certain businesses. Restructuring of the direct-to-store services to the independent and convenience retail sectors in the UK and Ireland is ongoing.
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