Shares in Kerry Group, the Irish food ingredients multinational, plunged 6.4 per cent on Tuesday after the company reported a dip in revenue and profit last year.
Kerry Group, which floated on the stock market in 1986 and is led by chief executive Edmond Scanlon, said revenue dropped 2.5 per cent to €6.8 billion in 2025, while profit after tax fell 10 per cent to €659 million.
Scanlon said the “number one reason” for the dips in the headline figures was weakness in the dollar.
“On an underlying basis, volume growth, which is the most important measure in our business, was 3 per cent for the year,” he said. “When you consider where the underlying market for fruit and beverages is – flat to negative – we’re quite pleased.”
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The company’s share price is down more than 25 per cent over the past 12 months, which Scanlon put down to pressures in the sector. “We’re not immune to that,” he said.
Davy analyst Cathal Kenny said the company delivered a “solid” 2025 result with “good progress” on volume and margin against a “subdued demand environment”.
Scanlon said the company’s expectation that margins will widen further in 2026 is predicated on efficiencies rather than price hikes. “We don’t expect much movement on pricing,” he said.
“I think efficiency is the big driver in margin expansion. We have invested pretty significantly on digitalisation, automation, and artificial intelligence.”
Scanlon said the company was largely insulated from the uncertainty that emerged from Donald Trump’s tariff agenda last year as it generally sources, manufactures and develops its products from within the countries in which it operates.
He also said there had been no downturn in the group’s operating environment in the US. “We see ourselves as an American company in America,” he said. “We have 6,000 people there, more than 40 manufacturing facilities primarily in the midwest where we’re an important employer.”
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) were up marginally to €1.2 billion, with EBITDA margin increasing by 80 basis points to 17.9 per cent. Basic earnings per share were 400.2 cent, down from 424.5 cent in 2024.
The company, which employs about 1,500 people in Ireland, predicted adjusted earnings per share growth of 6-10 per cent in the coming year on a constant currency basis.
The board proposed a final dividend of 98 cent per share, which is an increase of 10.1 per cent on the final 2024 dividend. Together with the interim dividend of 42 cent per share, this brings the total dividend for the year to 140 cent, an increase of 10.1 per cent on 2024.
The Dublin-listed group paid €215 million in dividends during 2025 and repurchased €500 million shares. It announced the start of a new €300 million share buyback programme on Tuesday.
Business volumes in emerging markets increased by 5.3 per cent in the year, led by a strong performance in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Revenue in the Americas was €3.7 billion with volume growth of 3.8 per cent, while it was €1.6 billion in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa region where volumes increased by 4.2 per cent.
The group generated revenue of €1.4 billion in Europe, but suffered a 0.5 per cent drop in volumes, which Scanlon put down to a soft market, primarily in the UK.
“The UK is our biggest European market and the reality of the situation is the market in Western Europe and the UK is quite subdued, and we’re seeing that coming through in our numbers,” Scanlon said.
“So the level of new launches and innovation is nowhere near the same level as in North America.
“That said, we do expect 2026 to be in growth. At the best of times, we expect Europe to be in that 1-2 per cent volume growth zone, which we’re not far away from. Western Europe is our smallest region, and by its nature is never going to be a high growth region.”
