Ireland-based food firm Kerry Group has posted a 2.3% volume increase in its Consumer Foods business in the first quarter of the year, driven by a 1.0% increase in pricing.
The company said that the division's trading profit margin 'decreased by 70 basis points as the underlying margin improvement was more than offset by transaction currency headwinds'.
Category Performance
Kerry Group is home to brands such as Mattesons, Cheestrings and Dairygold, which all posted a positive performance in the quarter.
It noted that while Mattesons was able to maintain growth in the meat snacking category, the 'GB sausage marketplace remained challenging'.
Its Cheestrings business maintained growth in the UK 'despite operational issues at the Charleville production plant', and also 'progressed satisfactorily' in Europe.
'Market conditions in the UK private label spreads category stabilised during the quarter where Kerry Foods’ spreadable butter technologies continued to successfully progress market development,' it noted. 'The Irish spreads market continued to reflect a decline in volume and value but ‘Dairygold’ again grew market share assisted by new product launches.'
Overall, Kerry Group saw a 3.8% growth in business volumes for the period, with its Taste and Nutrition business growing by 4.1%.
Maintain Momentum
“Our first quarter highlights a good volume driven performance across Group businesses, maintaining the momentum reported in 2016," said chief executive Stan McCarthy (pictured).
"The Group expects to achieve good revenue growth and 5% to 9% growth in adjusted earnings per share in 2017, as previously guided.”
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
