Kerry Group Posts Lower Pretax Profit, Revenue on Muted Demand

By Nina Kienle

Kerry Group said pretax profit and revenue for the first half fell, as demand remained relatively muted given recent inflation across many geographies.

The Ireland-based food company said Wednesday that pretax profit was 364.8 million euros ($394.6 million) compared with EUR379.2 million for the first half of 2023.

Revenue fell to EUR3.88 billion from EUR4.12 billion in the year-prior period. The company said this compromised overall volume growth, but one division was ahead.

"Taste and nutrition delivered good volume growth ahead of our end markets, with strong profit growth and margin expansion across the business, contributing to our earnings per share growth of 9.1% in the period", Chief Executive Edmond Scanlon said.

The board declared an interim dividend of 38.1 European cents a share, up from 34.6 European cents in the year ago.

For 2024, the company updated its guidance, targeting constant currency adjusted earnings per share growth of 7% to 10%.

Write to Nina Kienle at nina.kienle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 31, 2024 03:02 ET (07:02 GMT)

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