Frozen food company Nomad Foods has reported strong performance in its financial year 2024, with robust margin expansion and market share gains.
The Birds Eye parent distributed a total of €208 million in dividends and share repurchases during the year.
The company's board has approved a 13% increase in dividend for the first-quarter of 2025.
Chief executive officer Stéfan Descheemaeker noted that the 2024 results demonstrate the positive impact of focused brand investments and operational excellence, marking its ninth consecutive year of growth in sales and adjusted EBITDA.
He added that investments initiated in 2023 began to yield strong returns in 2024, as evidenced by accelerating volume momentum and market share gains in the latter quarters.
Descheemaeker also stated, “We significantly strengthened our innovation engine, increasing our innovation as a percent of sales year-over-year, while executing more impactful merchandising programmes that resonated with consumers at point-of-sale.”
Co-chair and founder Noam Gottesman expressed his optimism about the growth potential of Nomad Foods as the company entered its tenth year as a public entity.
Gottesman commented, “Nomad Foods has become a growth advantaged food company, as evidenced by its widening top and bottom-line outperformance versus industry peers.”
Performance Highlights 2024
In the fourth quarter, reported revenue rose by 4.3% to €793 million, driven by a 3.1% organic revenue increase and a 4.7% volume growth.
Adjusted EBITDA increased by 17.6% to €137 million, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) increased by 31% to €0.42.
Over the full year 2024, reported revenue grew by 1.8% to €3.1 billion.
Organic revenue saw a marginal increase of 1.0% with volume growth of 1.3%, while adjusted EBITDA increased by 5.6% to €565 million and adjusted EPS rose by 11% to €1.78.
The Goodfella’s Pizza maker also generated adjusted free cash flow of €292 million.
What Lies Ahead
Looking ahead to fiscal 2025, Nomad Foods expects organic revenue growth in the range of 1% and 3%, and adjusted EBITDA growth between 2% and 4%, with continued investment in products and brands.
The revised guidance projects adjusted EPS in the range of €1.85 to €1.89, which represents a growth of 4% to 6% over previous forecasts.
The company anticipates that full-year adjusted free cash flow conversion will be at or above 90%.
Read More: Nomad Foods Included In The 2024 Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index
