Greencore and Ryanair expected to report rise in revenues

Foodmaker Greencore, due to report interim results tomorrow, is likely to move into profit in the US this year according to analysts, achieving faster growth across the Atlantic than in Britain.

While the UK market has been proving challenging for the convenience food firm, the US operation is now on a “stronger footing” according to Investec analyst Nicola Mallard. “The US looks set to take up the baton of growth this year. The swing from the US from loss to profit could be in the region of £5 million this year,” she said.

Davy market commentator Cathal Kenny predicts the company’s revenue may be slightly ahead of last year’s £567.7 million (€437.6 million), with operating profit up 3.9 per cent at £33 million.

Greencore started supplying chilled products to Starbucks in the US this year, a contract said to be worth about $50 million in revenue in a full year.

Flying high
Ryanair is due to report fourth quarter and full year results today, with recent peer performance suggesting a strong final quarter driven by robust pricing and growth in ancillaries. The airline grew passenger numbers 4.5 per cent over the year as a whole, despite a 3 per cent year-on-year drop in the final quarter of 2012 as aircraft were parked during winter. Goodbody stockbrokers expects the airline to report revenue of €4.8 billion, up 12.2 per cent year on year.

Things have been looking good for Ryanair, whose shares have posted a 114 per cent price gain since May 2008. Europe's biggest airline Air France-KLM on the other hand slumped 63 per cent over the past five years.

Ryanair’s famously opinionated chief executive Michael O’Leary previously opened a press conference to announce the annual results with: “I’m here with Howard Miller and Michael Cawley, our two deputy chief executives. But they’re presently making love in the gentleman’s toilets, such is their excitement at today’s results.”