Global ingredients and dairy firm Glanbia has reported total group revenues for last year of €3.5 billion, a rise of 7.3%.
Glanbia said its profits for the year increased by 10.8% to €161.2m, while adjusted earnings per share rose 10.1% - the fifth consecutive year of double digit growth for the company and ahead of expectations.
The Glanbia board has recommended a final dividend of 6.57 cents per share, up from 5.97 cents per share in 2013.
It said this represents an increase of 10% and brings the total dividend for the year to 11 cents per share, up from 10 cents the previous year.
The group said its Global Performance Nutrition and Global Ingredients divisions have been driving earnings despite the challenging dairy market dynamics last year.
Glanbia said its dairy division in Ireland has been made more efficient, and delivered an improved performance last year driven mainly by its Consumer Products.
The outlook for Dairy Ireland is broadly positive, and Glanbia expects both Consumer Products and Agribusiness to see a further reduction in their cost base this year.
The company's chief executive Siobhán Talbot said that Glanbia's overall outlook for 2015 is positive.
"We are guiding 9% to 11% growth in adjusted earnings per share, constant currency. We continue to successfully execute our growth strategy and this positions Glanbia well for the delivery of our objectives from 2015 to 2018," Ms Talbot said.
Shares in the company were 6.1% higher in Dublin trade today.
Revenues at the company's Global Performance Nutrition division rose by 13.9% to €746.2m while EBITA increased by 26.3% to €89.2m and Glanbia said the deals to buy Nutramino and Isopure last year further consolidated its position as the global leader in performance nutrition.
EBITA at its Global Ingredients Division fell by 1.6% to €100.4m but revenues grew 9.4% to €1.175 billion despite the challenging dairy markets which hit milk procurement and whey pricing dynamics.
Its Dairy Ireland division reported revenues of €616.7m for the year to the end of December - down 5.4% due to declining volumes and lower pricing. EBITA at the division grew by 25.8% to €19m.
Glanbia said the division was boosted by the impact of the efficiency initiatives undertaken in recent years, the benefit of which will continue this year. It also said that while global dairy prices have been in decline since the middle of last year, the average milk cost for 2014 was broadly unchanged from 2013.
However, it added that the market environment remains challenging both from a retailer and consumer perspective.
Revenues at Glanbia's Joint Ventures and Associates rose 9.3% to €984m, while EBITA dropped by 6.7% to €36.4m due to the impact of the decline in global dairy market prices in the second half of the year.
Glanbia said its €150m investment in the milk processing plant at Belview in Co Kilkenny was completed on time and on budget and its official opening will take place in March, before the removal of EU quotas in April.
