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Kerry Group PLC on Thursday said revenue rose in 2022 on the back of volume growth and price increases, but profit fell mostly due to costs incurred through disposals and the company’s restructuring programme.
The Tralee, Ireland-based nutrition solutions provider for food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets reported pretax profit was €699.0 million, down 14% from €816.3 million a year ago.
The company said it made an €63.0 million loss on the disposal of its operations in Russia and Belarus, undertaken due to the war in Ukraine. Kerry also incurred costs of €49.2 million from its ’accelerate operational excellence’ restructuring programme, which is set to run until 2024.
Revenue was €8.77 billion in 2022, up 19% from €7.35 billion in 2021. The company’s Taste & Nutrition division reported revenue of €7.4 billion, up 29% from a year ago. The company noted that it achieved organic revenue growth of 18% in 2022.
Volume growth was 6.1% in 2022, compared to 8.0% in 2021, while pricing increased by 12%, up from 1.2% a year ago.
Kerry declared a final dividend of €0.73 per share, increasing the total dividend to €1.05, up 10% from €0.95 per share the year prior.
Adjusted earnings per share was €4.41 in 2022, up 16% from €3.81 a year ago. The company said it expects adjusted earnings per share growth of between 3% and 7% in 2023.
Chief Executive Officer Edmond Scanlon: ‘As we marked Kerry’s 50th year in 2022, we achieved record organic revenue growth against the backdrop of an exceptionally dynamic operating environment. I am proud of the broad-based volume growth we delivered across our end use markets, channels, regions and emerging markets despite the macroeconomic conditions.
‘We made good strategic progress in the year through development of our innovation platforms, footprint expansion and continued portfolio development.
‘We completed a number of acquisitions aligned to our strategic priorities of taste, nutrition and emerging markets, and since year-end we announced the potential sale of our sweet ingredients portfolio, as we continue to enhance and refine our business to areas where we can add most value.’
Kerry shares were up 4.4% trading at €91.32 per share on Thursday morning in London.
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