Food technology and ingredients company Kerry Group has reported higher revenues and profits for 2021 despite the backdrop of Covid-19 and supply chain challenges right across the food industry.
Kerry Group said its group revenues for the 12 months to the end of December rose by 5.7% to €7.4 billion, while group trading profit increased by 9.8% to €875.5m.
The company said that revenues in its Taste & Nutrition division came to €6.3 billion, reflecting a reported revenue increase of 9%. Profits in the division came to €913.4m, up from €814.2m in 2020.
"2021 was a successful year for the company and I have to say I'm extremely proud and appreciative of all my Kerry colleagues all over the world for managing to deliver this performance in what has been, and continues to be a disruptive environment," said Kerry Group CEO on RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"We ended the year very strong, with excellent growth across the business."
Revenues at its Consumer Foods division dropped by 10.5% to €1.1 billion as the division saw an adverse impact from the disposal of its Meats and Meals business during the year.
Trading profits at the division fell to €82.1m from €99.2m the previous year, Kerry added.
During the year Kerry sold its Meats and Meals business for €819m to to Pilgrim's Pride.
"The primary reason for that was to really concentrate on our global taste and nutrition business, that's a technology business that's extremely well-positioned for growth," said Mr Scanlon. "We see strong demand in the market for nutritious, good-tasting products that are more sustainable."
It also spent more than €1 billion in acquisitions - including two deals worth €200m announced yesterday.
And Mr Scanlon said that acquisition strategy would continue into the future.
"Acquisitions continue to be part of the strategic development of Kerry. I expect acquisitions to be part of the future investments that we look at in Kerry, as well as many other organic investments," he said.
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Mr Scanlon also said they had had a very successful Capital Markets Day in October 2021, with shareholder and investors "quite positive" about its investment strategy.
The company said its markets remain highly dynamic with a continued good demand environment, despite the backdrop of Covid-19 and supply chain challenges across the industry.
Mr Scanlon said inflation was a challenge for the company - and would remain so in the coming months.
"We've seen inflation impacting every business, right across the supply chain, and I would imagine it's the biggest business issue facing any entity at the moment - and Kerry's not immune to that," he said.
"We'll be offsetting some of our cost-increases through in-house efficiencies programmes like everybody else, the reality is that we will see price increases coming right through the supply chain."
Kerry said its board has recommended a final dividend of 66.7 cent per share, an increase of 10.1% on the final 2020 dividend.
Together with the interim dividend of 28.5 cent per share, this brings the total dividend for the year to 95.2 cent, an increase of 10.1% on 2020.
"While market conditions remain uncertain, the group is strongly positioned for growth. Kerry's key growth platforms of Authentic Taste, Food Waste, Plant-Based and Health & Bio-Pharma underpin a strong innovation pipeline," Kerry Group said in its results.
"As the industry is currently experiencing a period of heightened inflation, the group remains confident in its ability to manage through this current cycle with its well-established pricing model and cost initiatives," it added.
