Food and ingredients business Glanbia (GLB) defied a difficult dairy market last year to report a solid set of annual results. Revenue, including joint ventures and associate businesses, grew 4 per cent at actual exchange rates, while cash profit was up more than a quarter to €311m (£246m), with margins up 150 basis points.
Revenue at the performance nutrition business grew 6.7 per cent to €923m on a constant-currency basis, reflecting a significant contribution from acquisitions and a 1.5 per cent improvement in volumes. Even the group's Dairy Ireland business grew sales by 3 per cent to €633m.
The only division that took a slight knock as a result of depressed dairy prices was global ingredients - the largest segment in terms of sales. Revenue there crashed 12.8 per cent at constant currency, with lower US cheese prices among the culprits, although volumes were up 5 per cent. At actual exchange rates, revenue actually rose 3.6 per cent to €1.2bn.
Analysts at Davy Stockbrokers were impressed, and have nudged EPS forecasts for the current financial year up 4 per cent to 86ȼ a share. That compares with 79ȼ in FY2015.
| GLANBIA (GLB) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,845ȼ | MARKET VALUE: | €5.46bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,840-1,849ȼ | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,959ȼ | LOW: 1,536ȼ |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.7% | PE RATIO: | 30 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 356ȼ* | NET DEBT: | 55% | |
| Year to 2 Jan | Turnover (€bn) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (ȼ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1.93 | 106 | 38.2 | 8.3 |
| 2013 | 2.21 | 150 | 49.3 | 9.1 |
| 2014 | 2.38 | 176 | 51.0 | 10.0 |
| 2015 | 2.54 | 174 | 49.6 | 11.0 |
| 2016 | 2.77 | 219 | 62.1 | 12.1 |
| % change | +9 | +26 | +25 | +10 |
Ex-div: 17 Mar Payment: 29 Apr *Includes intangible assets of €952m, or 321ȼ a share | ||||
