Glanbia revenues up 8 per cent, reiterates full-year guidance

Revenues at food group Glanbia rose by 8 per cent in the nine months to October 4th and the company maintained its full-year guidance of 8 per cent to 10 per cent growth in adjusted earnings per share.

Glanbia said revenues in its global performance nutrition division rose by 14 per cent versus the same period a year earlier. Excluding the impact of the Nutramino acquisition in January , revenue growth was 12per cent, with the majority of this volume driven. It said international revenues were particularly strong reflecting good market growth across the group’s key markets.

The company’s global ingredients division recorded revenues that were 11 per cent higher, reflecting a 15 per cent impact from higher pricing, which was offset by an organic volume decline of 4 per cent. Glanbia said the division’s full-year performance will be broadly in line with that of last year.

Revenues were down 9 per cent in Glanbia’s dairy Ireland division versus last year. The group attributed this to a 7 per cent decline in volumes and a 2 per cent fall in pricing.

The company said the consumer products market remains challenging with revenues behind the prior year as favourable conditions for grass growth resulted in a decline in animal feed demand. However, performance for the full-year is expected to be broadly in line with the prior year, it added.

Glanbia said its agribusiness also suffered during the first nine months of the year with revenues behind that of 2013.

The group, which recently completed the acquisition of US brand Isopure, said revenues for joint ventures and associates were 12 per cent ahead of the same period a year ago due to higher global dairy market pricing.

"Glanbia delivered a good performance in the first nine months of the year. This was driven primarily by global performance nutrition while global ingredients and our other businesses performed in line with expectations," said managing director Siobhan Talbot.

“We are delighted with the recent addition of Isopure to our market leading performance nutrition brand portfolio and we continue to invest across the Group to support our future growth ambitions,” she added.

Glanbia’s net debt as of October 4th was €514 million. Committed debt facilities amounted to €727 million with €470 million maturing in January 2018 and $325 million (€257 million) maturing in June 2021. The group said its capital investment programme remains in place and capital expenditure for 2014 is expected to be approximately €120 million.