Kerry Foods eyes growth
Kerry Foods, owner of the Walls sausages, Homepride flour and Mattessons brands, says it is well placed for expansion and earnings growth this year, despite consumers trading down to lower cost products.
The Irish food maker, which recently appointed Phil Chapman group marketing director, says like-like-like revenue grew 6.3% to €4.8bn (£4.2bn) in the year ended 31 December which boosted trading profit by 8% to €409m (£360.5m).
Stan McCarthy, chief executive of the group, says the performance was achieved despite “tremendous cost pressures and trends towards more value conscious food and beverage consumption”.
He adds that the group is “well resourced financially to benefit from the business expansion opportunities which will inevitably emerge.”
The announcement follows the appointment of former T-Mobile marketing director Chapman earlier this month. In the newly created role, Chapman will oversee brand development and promotions and work closely with each brand’s marketing director.
Kerry recently consolidated its £13m media account for the UK and Ireland into Vizeum. The account was previously split between Universal and Vizeum, while Starcom held the business in Ireland.
