Kerry Group shares up 3% as growth continues

Pleased: CEO Edmond Scanlon SHARES in Irish food giant Kerry Group, which has six sites in Northern Ireland, were trading up over 3% after the group reaffirmed its full year guidance of growth of up to 10% for 2018.

This comes as the company reported growth of 3.5% in its business volumes in the nine months to September 30.

Kerry Group owns six facilities in Northern Ireland, including Dairy Produce Packers, makers of the popular Coleraine cheese brand; Henry Denny & Sons in Portadown; and Golden Cow in Craigavon.

In a trading update yesterday the group said that its taste and nutrition business grew 4.1% in the nine-month period, while its Consumer Foods business had growth of 1.2%.

Davy analyst Liz Coen said that the stockbrokers did not anticipate any material revisions to their financial year 2018 earnings forecast for Kerry.

“We remain optimistic on future prospects for Kerry,” Ms Coen said.

Reported sales increased by 2.2%, and growth was recorded across all the regions that the group operates in.

The company said its underlying margin expansion was “good”, however it was offset by the impact of currency fluctuations.

Chief executive Edmond Scanlon said he was “pleased” with the performance.

“In the third quarter we have delivered good volume growth,” he said.