Irish ingredients giant Kerry Group closed its financial year 2021 with group revenue of €7.4 billion and volume growth of 8.0%.
Group EBITDA amounted to €1.1 billion in the period, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 14.7%.
Group trading profit increased by 9.8%, to €875.5 million, representing growth of 40bps in trading profit margin.
This was driven by the recovery of operating leverage, portfolio mix and net contribution of acquisitions and disposals, partially offset by pricing, supply chain costs and KerryExcel investments, the company noted.
The company’s net capital expenditure amounted to €315 million, while research and development expenditure was €297 million as it continued to invest in taste, nutrition and emerging markets.
'Excellent Growth Across Our Business'
Edmond Scanlon, chief executive officer of Kerry Group, said, “We ended the year on a strong note with excellent growth across our business. […] The year was important for Kerry from a strategic perspective. We continued to enhance our position as a market-leading taste and nutrition company with a number of strategic portfolio developments, while further enhancing our local footprint to support our growth ambitions."
The company’s taste and nutrition unit saw volumes up 8.3% during the financial year, while the consumer foods division posted a 6% increase in volume.
Revenue in the taste and nutrition business increased by 9.0% to €6.3 billion during the year.
Consumer foods saw reported revenue declining by 10.5% in the year to €1.1 billion.
Scanlon commented, “In the taste and nutrition retail channel, we continued to deliver strong growth, while we achieved excellent growth in foodservice with business volumes in all regions above 2019 levels in the fourth quarter.
“This growth was well spread across our end-use markets, with beverage, bakery and meat delivering particularly strong performances.”
Outlook For The Coming Year
The company said that it is confident in its ability to manage heightened inflation across the industry with its pricing model and cost initiatives
It has forecast 5% to 9% growth in adjusted earnings per share in 2022 on a constant currency basis.
Scanlon stated, “While recognising that current market environment and inflationary pressures continue to present challenges across our industry, Kerry is stronger positioned and more resilient than ever as we enter a new strategic cycle.
“Our earnings guidance range for 2022 reflects the Group’s strong growth prospects and the net effect of recent portfolio developments.”
Read More: Kerry Group Sees Volumes Up 6.6% In Third Quarter, Citing 'Good Growth' In Retail
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