Kerry Group Reports Profit Growth and Positive Outlook Amid Dairy Disposal

Kerry Group PLC, based in Tralee, County Kerry, has announced it is in a strong position to outperform the market, expecting solid volume growth and margin expansion in the upcoming year. The company reported a 2.3% rise in pretax profit to EUR841.8 million in 2024, up from EUR822.6 million in the previous year. Despite this profit increase, revenue fell slightly by 0.5%, from EUR8.02 billion to EUR7.98 billion.

Finance income saw a significant increase of 60%, reaching EUR34.8 million from EUR21.8 million. Earlier in January, Kerry completed the first phase of selling its Kerry Dairy Ireland business to Kerry Co-Operative Creameries Ltd, valuing the enterprise at EUR500 million. Dairy Ireland contributed EUR1.32 billion to Kerry's revenue in 2024.

Kerry Group is focused on becoming a dedicated global business-to-business taste and nutrition company, emphasizing sustainable nutrition. The company declared a final dividend of 89.0 euro cents per share, an increase from 80.8 cents the previous year. This brings the total payout for 2024 to 127.1 cents, marking a 10% rise from 115.4 cents.

Kerry's net debt rose 20% as of December 31, reaching EUR1.93 billion compared to EUR1.60 billion a year earlier. Looking forward, Kerry is poised for strong market outperformance, leveraging its "unique" customer positioning. The company anticipates good volume growth and robust margin expansion, with constant currency adjusted earnings per share expected to grow between 7% to 11% in 2025, despite any dilution from the sale of Kerry Dairy Ireland.

On Tuesday afternoon, Kerry shares increased by 0.4% to EUR98.80 each in London, resulting in a market capitalization of EUR16.47 billion.