Kerry revenues up 10pc
Irish food producers Kerry Group has reported pre-tax profits of €392.8m for the year ending December 2010.
Despite an increase in input costs, the results show a marked increase from 2009 profits of €251.9m.
Sales in the year increased by almost 10pc and the company experienced strong volume growth in both established and emerging markets.
However, in Ireland conditions remained challenging as the consumer continued to shop cautiously.
The board is recommending a final dividend of 20cent per share, up 15.6pc on 2009’s final dividend. When added to the interim dividend of 8.8cent per share, this brings the total dividend for the year to 28.8cent per share, up 15.2pc on the previous year.
“Kerry Group achieved excellent results in 2010. Business development in the group’s established and emerging markets proved highly successful delivering strong volume growth and good margin progression,” said Kerry’s chief executive Stan McCarthy in a statement this morning.
“Building on the group’s strong performance in 2010 and notwithstanding the challenges arising from the significant increase in raw materials and input costs, we expect that Kerry will achieve good profitable growth in the year ahead,” added McCarthy.