FOOD GROUP Kerry has reported a strong performance in the first half of 2010 with a pre-tax profit of €162.3m for the six months from January to June – a €47.3m increase on the same window last year.
The spike was fuelled by a jump in the group’s sales revenue, which rose to €2.4bn from just over €2.25bn last year – an increase of 6.7%, with a 2.7% like-for-like jump – while trading profits also rose sharply to €204m, up nearly 13%.
Revenues were up across the board, however, with a 5.8% increase in continuing business volumes and the group’s trading profit margin up 0.4% to 8.4%.
The interim dividend has also increased from 7.7c to 8.8c per share, and the earnings guidance for the full year has been increased on foot of the strong results. The group’s free cash flow has increased to €117m, up by €41m from the first half of 2009.
Announcing the results this morning, CEO Stan McCarthy said Kerry had “delivered strong profitable growth in the first half of 2010, growing continuing business volumes by 5.8% on a Group-wide basis. Adjusted earnings per share in the period increased by 19.3% to 80.2 cent.
“Based on our strong performance to date in 2010 we now expect to achieve mid-teen growth in adjusted earnings per share for the full year.”
Shares in Kerry Group were up by 61c to €25.21 on the Dublin Stock Exchange at the time of writing, an increase of 2.48%.
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