Frozen foods giant Nomad Foods has posted an 11% increase in revenue to €2.17 billion for its financial year 2018.
Adjusted EBITDA for the year grew by 15% to €376 million, while adjusted earnings per share increased 19% to €1.19.
Organic revenue for the period saw a growth of 2.6%.
The company's fourth-quarter revenue increased by 21% to €615 million, while its organic revenue witnessed growth of 4.2%.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter increased by 23% to €101 million.
'A Solid End To 2018'
Stéfan Descheemaeker, Nomad Foods’ chief executive, said, “We delivered a solid end to 2018, with fourth quarter and full year results exceeding our prior guidance.
"Performance during both periods reflected broad-based geographic growth, continued leadership within our core categories and strong customer acceptance of our new product offerings."
Growth Drivers
Growth was driven by the acquisitions of frozen food companies Goodfella's and Aunt Bessie's in April and July of last year respectively.
As a result, adjusted operating expenses for FY 2018 increased 5% to €329 million.
Advertising and promotion expenses increased 7% to €121 million, while indirect expenses rose by 3% to €208 million, the company said.
'Pleased With Our Progress'
Commenting on the acquisitions, Descheemaeker, added, "We are pleased with our progress integrating Aunt Bessie’s and Goodfella’s, which have outperformed their plans since being acquired in the middle of 2018.
"Finally, we generated significant cash flow during the fourth quarter and the year which will further enable our growth ambitions for 2019 and beyond.”
Outlook
For full-year 2019, the food giant expects organic revenue growth in the band of a low-single-digit percentage rate.
The adjusted EBITDA is forecast to range between €420 to €430 million, which corresponds to a growth rate of around 8% to 10%.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
