Glanbia has posted what it described as a 'resilient' performance in the year to 2 January 2021, despite reporting a 13.3% decline in like-for-like revenue at its Glanbia Performance Nutrition (GPN) unit.
Unveiling its full-year results, Glanbia said that it 'navigated COVID-19 well', posting a 1.8% increase in revenue on a like-for-like basis.
"Throughout the pandemic, we lived our purpose and our values, delivering essential, nutritious food during the most challenging of circumstances and proving the resilience of our business," commented Siobhán Talbot, Glanbia group managing director.
Revenue of €3.82 billion was up 0.6% on a constant currency basis, or down 1.4% on a reported basis.
Glanbia Nutritionals
Its Glanbia Nutritionals (GN) arm was the key driver of its revenue performance, growing by 10.0% on a like-for-like basis.
On the performance of GN, Talbot said, "GN delivered a good performance versus prior year as the majority of its end-market demand was sustained throughout 2020 and it continued to execute its strategic growth agenda."
With regard to GPN, she added that COVID restrictions "caused significant disruption to International markets and the North American specialty and distributor channels.
"However we maintained our focus on the key transformation programme with revenue and margin trends both improving in the second half of the year."
EBITA Performance
The group reported a 22.6% decline in pre-exceptional EBITA for the year, which it linked to challenges associated with COVID-19.
Glanbia added it is now in 'a strong financial position' with net debt reduced by €120.4 million compared to the previous year, to €493.9 million. A share buyback programme of up to €50 million was launched in the final quarter of 2020, and is 'ongoing' in 2021.
© 2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.
