Food technology and ingredients company Kerry Group has maintained its full year guidance after it reported a 3% increase in its third quarter volumes.
In an interim management statement for its third quarter, Kerry Group said that its growth was led by its bakery, snacks and dairy businesses.
Business volume growth in the three month period was supported by good innovation activity led by the foodservice channel, combined with continued product renovation activity in the retail channel, it added.
Kerry Group noted that the food and beverage market environment reflected soft consumer demand, given macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty across different geographies.
"Customer innovation centred around new and differentiated flavour combinations, products with functional health benefits and relative value options. Renovation activity continued to be a key feature of customer engagement, primarily focused on enhancing product nutritional profiles," it stated.
Kerry said it was maintaining its constant currency adjusted earnings per share guidance of 7% to 11% growth in the full year.
Breaking down its regions, Kerry reported volume growth of 3.6% in the Americas Region, with growth led by snacks, dairy and bakery.
It noted that growth reflected good performances in both North America and LATAM, with LATAM growth led by Brazil and Central America.
The company's Europe Region saw volume growth of 0.4% with its beverage and bakery units seeing good growth.
Business developments in the period included enzyme capacity expansion in Cork, the opening of a new Biotechnology Innovation Centre in Leipzig in Germany and the enhancement of its cocoa taste capabilities in Grasse in France.
Meanwhile, volume growth at its APMEA Region (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa) came in at 4.1%, on the back of growth in bakery, meat and meals.
Kerry noted that its performance in the region was led by strong growth in Southeast Asia, with the Middle East and Africa delivering solid growth, while volumes in China remained challenged.
Edmond Scanlon, Kerry's chief executive, said the company delivered a good performance across the first nine months of the year, with volume growth well ahead of its markets, combined with strong margin expansion.
"We achieved good growth in the Americas supported by product launch activity, with Europe and APMEA delivering sequential volume growth improvement in the third quarter," Mr Scanlon said.
"From a strategic perspective, we continued to develop our business, including further investment in our bio-fermentation and taste technology capabilities, combined with capacity expansion in APMEA and LATAM," he said.
"Looking to the remainder of the year, while recognising continued market uncertainty, we remain well positioned for volume growth and strong margin expansion, as we continue to support our customers as an innovation and renovation partner," he added.
Kerry Group shares moved higher in Dublin trade today.
