Fresh-produce firm Greenyard has reported ‘solid’ top-line growth in the first half of its financial year, with an increase in net sales and adjusted EBITDA.
The Belgian company’s like-for-like net sales increased by 6.1%, year on year, to €2.6 billion, while adjusted EBITDA grew by 4.6%, year on year, to €94.4 million.
The company attributed its good performance to inflation-compensating measures, a 2.9% volume increase driven by the fresh segment, and a 0.8% increase in service sales and transport recharges.
The company’s net result amounted to €1.2 million – below last year’s level of €7 million – due to further restructuring costs, higher depreciation, and a gain on the sale of property, plants and equipment last year.
The CEO of Greenyard, Francis Kint, commented, “After successfully navigating our business during two challenging years – in 2022 and 2023 – which were marked by unseen inflation, we reached good operational results in the first half of this financial year, ’24/’25.”
Greenyard also confirmed its ambitions to achieve €5.4 billion in sales and between €200 and €210 million of adjusted EBITDA by March 2026.
Divisional Performance
The fresh segment posted like-for-like net sales growth of 6.5% in the first half, to €2.2 billion, driven by higher volumes and an increase in the revenues from its integrated customer relationships (ICR).
Adjusted EBITDA in the division decreased by 0.6%, year on year, due to various factors, including higher sorting and packing labour costs.
The long fresh segment registered a 4.5% increase in like-for-like sales of €4.8 billion.
Processing and packing volumes in the long fresh segment returned to last year’s level, while the EBITDA margin increased to 8.6% from 8.2% in the comparable period.
First-Half Highlights
The company reduced its debt and leverage ratio from 2.39x to 1.92x, year on year, by improving operational cash flow and net working capital, despite a higher inventory, the acquisition of Crème de la Crème, the share buy-back programme, and dividend payments.
It also made good progress in achieving its ESG ambitions and corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD). Greenyard increased its renewable energy use to 64%, ensuring that it will reach its CO2 reduction ambitions this year.
The group is also on track to reach 100% recyclability.
Kint added, “[The company is] actively preparing for [the] next financial year by further enhancing challenging businesses on the one hand and reducing overhead[s] in certain divisions on the other.
“Additionally, we see further opportunities for operational improvements in the future. The future of food is right in line with our core business, and thanks to the agility of both our people and our operations, we can fully support our customers and growers in the further growth of the consumption of pure-plant foods.”
In June of this year, Greenyard announced an investment of €3 million in a new sauce production line at its Greenyard Prepared facility, in Bree, Belgium.
